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Automation of Arts - 3

Author: Youngjin Kang

Date: 2022.11

(Automation of Arts - 3)

Some people may also argue that, while artificial intelligence won't really replace what's called "pure art", it will still manage to take over the jobs of commercial artists because such pragmatic businesses are mainly concerned with the notion of popularity alone. If something is popular, it must be profitable, and so the only thing that the AI will have to do in this case is to simply figure out the most statistically viable formula for maximizing the level of popularity of the product. Want to make a videogame that sells well? Just create a colorful slot machine that contains the most suggestive forms of sex and violence in it. Want to make a piece of food that sells well? Just create an oversized junk food which has tons of sugar, butter, and other addictive ingredients in it. And so on.

However, here's a twist.

One of the reasons why there has been a lack of diversity in consumer culture, is that most people simply do not have enough time to make sophisticated personal decisions as customers. Ever since the dawn of mankind, the vast majority of people have been obliged to work full-time to feed their families and themselves. Most of them, due to sheer lack of time, just have to rely on the safest choice - that is, to buy products that are the most popular and have the most objectively optimal qualities in them.

As technological advancements start freeing the majority of people from the burden of full-time labor (which will inevitably force the society to introduce some kind of UBI (Universal Basic Income) to prevent civil disorder), people will begin to search for alternative meanings in life. And as a result of this, they will begin consuming goods which aim to accentuate the uniqueness of individuals.

Such a new trend will eventually help artists compete against the monopoly of AI-generated commercial arts. As consumers lose their own jobs, they will gain more time to search for commercial products that have subtle human personalities in them, rather than the most popular ones which, when consumed, may somehow create a public impression that anyone who purchased them is a soulless sheep who succumbed to the emotionless world of robots.

Having the right to choose what to buy is the equivalent of having the right to vote in the world of consumers. This is the last remaining weapon that can be used by humanity to fight off the upcoming monopoly of machines.