I especially love the anti-numb part. This has been bugging me for the last couple of years, maybe more. The feeling that we are all numbing ourselves with different forms of escapism. Mine are podcasts. They don't even require the commitment of audiobooks, and I don't feel that guilty because they are usually about topics I love. But what are we so afraid of that we can't let ourselves think, feel, etc?
The second thing I wanted to comment was about the image. I've used AI for this purpose, too, and someone pointed out that I was stealing from all the artists from whom the AI "borrowed" parts. You're a wise man, so I wonder where you stand on this one.
Thank you! Yes, we need to use our senses more, and more broadly - become more present in the world rather than digging ourselved down in a reality that isn't our own and isn't even real. A feed of simplified input that keeps us at a two-dimensional level down there.
About the AI image, well, that was the best I could find of Rebecca :) I would have preferred to draw something myself, make a photo session with a model, or perhaps have something like that done by someone else. Now, instead, I saved the time, money, and trouble. And I don't find that I have stolen anything. AI is not copying, and it is not borrowing parts, it is syntesizing the essense of input. Lots of input. Meaning that an AI-generated image of a person will contain such elements that are found in all real-world images of persons, but without looking like any of them.
At times, you will see how AI doesn't "know" in any reasonable sense of that word what it is drawing - and it puts extra legs, fingers, ears, or whatever on the drawing. This time I was lucky that the statistical treatment of tons of input happened to translate into something that actually looked like a woman.
If any artist feels that I by that have stolen their drawing, then let them show it to me - if I agree that it is the same image, I will bow for their talent and remove the image. If all they can show me is a woman sleeping, or something else that has a slight resemblance with the idea of this image, then I could probably show them many other images that would fit the same description - which they then could be claimed to have stolen from whoever painted those.
As for the copyright issue in general - a USA court has decided that there can be no copyright on AI-generated images, since they have not been made by a human being (and that is a requirement in the USA copyright act). As this post with image can be seen by people in many other countries as well, there could be different rules in some of those, but as the Substack site and service is in the USA, I will stick with that ruling for now. If nobody holds the copyright, then I cannot have infringed it.
I tend to agree with you, but honestly, I felt pretty guilty when I received that comment. And yes, I try to be more present. Swimming helps for me. It's often an hour when you don't hear anything but your own thoughts. Do you do anything in particular to stay present?
Swimming is no doubt a great thing to do. I wonder why I never do that, but maybe I should start. What I do, mostly, is going for a walk in the park, talking to the geese :) I used to go for motorcycle rides now and then, but I haven't done that for a long while by now.
Riding the motorcycle is a very real experience, being one with the machine and the road, paying attention to every detail around (apart from birds singing and other sounds, as the motorcycle is too loud). It can be a very intense experience.
The geese actually do talk to me. The say "ga ga" but I somehow sense what it means. They come to me to show me their little ones, who are then standing around my feet, looking up on me. I answer "ga ga" and feel connected. Nothing gets more present than that :)
That's adorable! I haven't seen geese in a while. I don't walk much lately because I overdid it when I moved away from Mexico City and discovered the magic of walking in a safe, nonpolluted place.
You should try swimming if you can. It's by far my favorite sport. Well, I love yoga, too, but you need your full attention there. Though it's also a great way to cultivate being present.
Nice!
I especially love the anti-numb part. This has been bugging me for the last couple of years, maybe more. The feeling that we are all numbing ourselves with different forms of escapism. Mine are podcasts. They don't even require the commitment of audiobooks, and I don't feel that guilty because they are usually about topics I love. But what are we so afraid of that we can't let ourselves think, feel, etc?
The second thing I wanted to comment was about the image. I've used AI for this purpose, too, and someone pointed out that I was stealing from all the artists from whom the AI "borrowed" parts. You're a wise man, so I wonder where you stand on this one.
Thank you! Yes, we need to use our senses more, and more broadly - become more present in the world rather than digging ourselved down in a reality that isn't our own and isn't even real. A feed of simplified input that keeps us at a two-dimensional level down there.
About the AI image, well, that was the best I could find of Rebecca :) I would have preferred to draw something myself, make a photo session with a model, or perhaps have something like that done by someone else. Now, instead, I saved the time, money, and trouble. And I don't find that I have stolen anything. AI is not copying, and it is not borrowing parts, it is syntesizing the essense of input. Lots of input. Meaning that an AI-generated image of a person will contain such elements that are found in all real-world images of persons, but without looking like any of them.
At times, you will see how AI doesn't "know" in any reasonable sense of that word what it is drawing - and it puts extra legs, fingers, ears, or whatever on the drawing. This time I was lucky that the statistical treatment of tons of input happened to translate into something that actually looked like a woman.
If any artist feels that I by that have stolen their drawing, then let them show it to me - if I agree that it is the same image, I will bow for their talent and remove the image. If all they can show me is a woman sleeping, or something else that has a slight resemblance with the idea of this image, then I could probably show them many other images that would fit the same description - which they then could be claimed to have stolen from whoever painted those.
As for the copyright issue in general - a USA court has decided that there can be no copyright on AI-generated images, since they have not been made by a human being (and that is a requirement in the USA copyright act). As this post with image can be seen by people in many other countries as well, there could be different rules in some of those, but as the Substack site and service is in the USA, I will stick with that ruling for now. If nobody holds the copyright, then I cannot have infringed it.
I tend to agree with you, but honestly, I felt pretty guilty when I received that comment. And yes, I try to be more present. Swimming helps for me. It's often an hour when you don't hear anything but your own thoughts. Do you do anything in particular to stay present?
Swimming is no doubt a great thing to do. I wonder why I never do that, but maybe I should start. What I do, mostly, is going for a walk in the park, talking to the geese :) I used to go for motorcycle rides now and then, but I haven't done that for a long while by now.
Riding the motorcycle is a very real experience, being one with the machine and the road, paying attention to every detail around (apart from birds singing and other sounds, as the motorcycle is too loud). It can be a very intense experience.
The geese actually do talk to me. The say "ga ga" but I somehow sense what it means. They come to me to show me their little ones, who are then standing around my feet, looking up on me. I answer "ga ga" and feel connected. Nothing gets more present than that :)
That's adorable! I haven't seen geese in a while. I don't walk much lately because I overdid it when I moved away from Mexico City and discovered the magic of walking in a safe, nonpolluted place.
You should try swimming if you can. It's by far my favorite sport. Well, I love yoga, too, but you need your full attention there. Though it's also a great way to cultivate being present.