I keep rattling my brain trying to discern what the implications of hyper advanced generative models like this will be. It's a double edged sword. While there's obvious tangible benefits from such models such as democratising art, the flip side seems like pure science fiction dystopia.
In my mind, the main eras of content on the internet look something like this:
Epoch 1: Pure, unblemished user generated content. Message boards and forums rule.
Epoch 2: More user generated content + a healthy mix of recycled user generated content. e.g. Reddit.
Epoch 3 (Now): Fake user generated content (limits to how much because humans still have to generate it). e.g. Amazon reviews, Cambridge Analytica.
Epoch 4: Advanced generative models means (essentially) zero friction for creating picture and text content. GPT3, Dalle-2.
Epoch 5: Generative models for videos, game over.
IMO, the future of the internet feels like a totally disastrous (un)reality. If addictive content recommended by the likes of TikTok has proven anything, it's that users ultimately don't care _what_ the content is, as long as it keeps their attention. It doesn't matter if it comes from a human or a machine. The difference is that in a world where the marginal cost of generating content is essentially zero, that content can and will be created and manipulated by large malicious actors to sway public opinion.
The Dead Internet Theory will fast become reality. This terrifies me.
Not sure democratising art is a good thing. Artists have long been considered important pillars of community. Artists develop skill and some have talent. Perhaps most critically, artists are inspired.
Healthy communities support artists. Generative models aren't truly creative art, they are explicitly and exclusively derivative. They are exactly inspired, in a different sense than artists who are inspired.
Artists can use these new tools, and so can non-artists, and even if the resultant image is the same, I think there is a difference depending on the intention of the prompt-er.
These models are democratising content creation, not art.
In my mind, the main eras of content on the internet look something like this:
Epoch 1: Pure, unblemished user generated content. Message boards and forums rule.
Epoch 2: More user generated content + a healthy mix of recycled user generated content. e.g. Reddit.
Epoch 3 (Now): Fake user generated content (limits to how much because humans still have to generate it). e.g. Amazon reviews, Cambridge Analytica.
Epoch 4: Advanced generative models means (essentially) zero friction for creating picture and text content. GPT3, Dalle-2.
Epoch 5: Generative models for videos, game over.
IMO, the future of the internet feels like a totally disastrous (un)reality. If addictive content recommended by the likes of TikTok has proven anything, it's that users ultimately don't care _what_ the content is, as long as it keeps their attention. It doesn't matter if it comes from a human or a machine. The difference is that in a world where the marginal cost of generating content is essentially zero, that content can and will be created and manipulated by large malicious actors to sway public opinion.
The Dead Internet Theory will fast become reality. This terrifies me.
[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/08/dead-...