Contemplating the Idea of Dismissing AI-Created Portrayals of Trump or Biden in Midstream: A Hu-Machine Comedy
“Midjourney consider snubbing out AI-generated images of Trump or Biden”
“MidJourney, an AI company, has initiated an interesting debate by refusing to generate AI images of popular figures like Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The decision was fueled by the recent criticism faced by another AI company, OpenAI, which revealed computer-generated images of individuals who don’t exist in reality.”
The folks over at MidJourney have sparked up some fiery chitchat of late, wagging tongues with their refusal to bang out AI renditions of notable personas such as Donald Trump and Joe Biden. What ignited this unusual move? Just take a gander at the public grilling OpenAI received after it had the audacity to unleash a horde of AI-created portraits of non-existent individuals upon the unsuspecting world.
Apparently, it’s all fun and games until it’s about AI birthing images of people who are more fiction than fact. Suddenly, the ethical compass star starts to blink with warning. MidJourney, being the Monday morning quarterback it is, took notes from the OpenAI saga and decided to tread a squeaky-clean path of righteous ethics, or so it claims.
But wait a minute, doesn’t this seem like a classic case of making a mountain out of an artificial intelligence molehill? Isn’t AI’s purpose to innovate and imagine? Alright, maybe fabricating faces of non-existent peeps is taking it a tad too far, but personality simulations…really?
Now, let’s not get caught up with the surrealism of AI-generated personalities. Instead, think about how unsettlingly accurate these renderings can be (cue the eerie sci-fi background score). One might argue that artists and cartoonists have been creating whimsical interpretations of public figures for ages, so why the sudden commotion for AI?
Well, the difference is a slippery thing called ‘free will’. When a human artist decides to draw, say Trump or Biden, they’re imbued with a certain degree of artistic liberty and accountability. The result, therefore, reflects human creativity and interpretation. Where does this leave AI, though, which is entirely devoid of human-like intent and instead guided by a pre-set algorithm?
Maybe the hives buzzing around this topic isn’t so trivial after all. Perhaps, it merits a deeper understanding of our relationship with technology, especially artificial intelligence. That’s is a titanic food for thought served by this MidJourney affair.
One thing’s for sure – the debate triggered by MidJourney’s decision has indeed thrown a curveball to the tech industry and the internet. After all, are we ready for a future where AI starts painting portraits of individuals, real or fabricated, with a reckless abandon of ethical implications? Perhaps, it’s time to hit the brakes and rethink where we’re heading before taking any more giant leaps into the future.