I assume this is referring to art but if not then disregard this. Yes, there’s countless tutorials provided by artists. There’s free videos online. Tumblr is a great place to learn drawing. The reason not to steal from artists through AI is for same reason I don’t want to use apple or windows, google. It’s corrupt at its core. It contributes to hurting and screwing over people. Buying art from artists or even just downloading another artist’s work supports another human because even if you didn’t buy it, people will still inevitably want to know the artist. Ideally, a person should buy the work from the artist, the same way if you go to a farmer’s market, you should pay the vendor for the veggies they grew. But even if you steal or pirate art from someone, someone will want to know who made it.

Opensource and art are not so unalike. from my clueless but learning tech newb pov, linux users or any non corporate tech user is doing everything from scratch. The command terminal is their sketchbook.

Absolutely this. They do this for some animals that can’t be tamed out of aggressive behaviours, (who usually got that way because of severe trauma of some kind), like bitey horses might not be euthanized but instead placed in their own sanctuary where they can just live calmly while not hurting other horses. And in Norway, they’ve got this all figured out. They don’t treat criminals with abuse. Their prisons are hospitable and comfy, and provide the care needed.

Feral cats don’t get punished for not being able to integrate with the human world. We accommodate them by letting them live in a way that suits their needs. We leave them alone (but if there’s too many neuter and spay them is a good idea), or if we decide to house them, we let them live as barn cats where they are more comfortable.

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Saw a question on here, “why would I buy when I can just steal the thing?” I assume it’s referring to art. Same reason I don’t want to use apple or windows, google. It’s corrupt at its core. It contributes to hurting and screwing over people. Buying art from artists or even just downloading another artist’s work supports another human because even if you didn’t buy it people will still inevitably want to know the artist.

Opensource and art are not so unalike. from my clueless but learning tech newb pov, linux users or any non corporate tech user is doing everything from scratch. The command terminal is their sketchbook.

now ffs let me sleep. I won’t reply to any more whataboutisms.

Or if it’s nsfw art, the money supports the artists.

Same. I’ve engaged in some stupid ragebait here too a little bit. To my chagrin. ._. We just have to remember to breathe and take a step back if we feel angry. And stay hydrated.

This is a good reminder. I need to do that too.

I’ll just keep being a nuisance here and say it. I genuinely do like this instance but I can’t make sense of the infatuation for the AI here when isn’t this part of the problem? AI “art” generators are fundamentally wrong and harmful to the artistic community. Artists are part of the nerd crowd too. We studied like crazy to hone our craft. There are a few traumatic historic events that the use of AI art theft machines harken back to. In more recent history, fascist regimes have tried to erase art altogether, or covet it for themselves. The same can be said for colonists, and it was to our chagrin a casually accepted part of Western culture to incorporate all sorts of bastardized appropriations of beautiful things they’d seen that didn’t belong to them. It’s just something to think about.

At the end of the day, people are thoughtlessly using a machine that takes the hard work of countless artists (of all different walks of life, different classes, backgrounds, mediums) to spit out uncanny, empty slop.

I’ll keep saying it. And it may take years to undo this shit if ever. That’s fine.

Okay, a pretty decent amount of people feel similarly as I do on this topic, but here I just feel like an outlier at times due to the number of pro-AI slop communities. Then again, I also notice that only a handful of the same people run those communities and contribute to them. I guess it’s because we’re a smaller community and I’m also a negative Nancy, so I tend to notice those glaring issues more here. I think it’s important to get this message across on here, because why do we want to emulate even one ounce of Musk’s energy here? Fuck that. Reddit already has their Midjourney sh-stuff. And they are not like us. So, we should strive to be better than Reddit.

Oh goodness, they have a little white chin.

I’m not sure how to avoid this problem myself other than to just be wary, be mindful, set boundaries. Don’t say yes to everything right off the bat. If they seem hurt or offended at you wanting to set those boundaries, that is a sign they’re someone you should stay away from. It’s difficult if you have autism or pre-existing trauma. People who’ve experienced abuse already are more susceptible to re-experiencing that, not because there’s anything wrong with them, but more likely because they have a harder time seeing toxic vs healthy social behaviours. So for example, if you had a group of friends that bullied you, you might end up with another group of bullies because you don’t know what nice people are actually like, if that makes sense. We don’t know what we don’t know.

I personally don’t really believe in ephemeral things like pheromones or vibes. I believe it’s a combination of luck of the draw–for example, being born into a preferred social group, ethnicity, class, etc–and whether we meet a list of pre-existing societal ideals. Autistic people and mentally ill people are often mistaken to be psychopaths or dangerous because of these bullshit “vibes”. The “vibe” is really whether the person behaves or appears in a way that is familiar. When it’s uncanny or not familiar, even by the littlest bit, that person comes off as more of a threat. The unknown is scary to us, as this is part of our survival instinct. Doesn’t matter if they really are hostile or not. And it’s a sad thing and it’s why we have, stigma, ableism and prejudice. (Okay but there are absolutely exceptions, like Elon Musk has massively unsettling vibes. That is because he genuinely is a psychopath though and didn’t have a healthy upbringing).

I deal with someone in my life who might have aspd but it’s just an armchair guess, not a doctor. They pretty much devote all of their energy to causing harm and destruction, and it’s been on par with living with an abusive partner. You’re not alone, there’s tons of folks who are stuck in hostile environments and abusive relationships–money is usually the obstacle that keeps us hostage in these situations. So we just have do what we can to take steps toward building a raft. It’s not your fault to be in this situation.

Anti-social behaviour should not be confused with asocial behaviour. Introverts, shy people, autistic people get labelled anti-social, but what they really mean is asocial, which refers to them just having a preference for solitude rather than socializing. There’s personality disorders that fall under the “dark triad” in psychology. These are also known known as Machiavellian personality disorders. The Wikipedia article explains it more thoroughly if you look up Machiavellianism in psychology. But it basically covers the destructive PDs, including ASPD and NPD. Not sure what the third one is, might be Histrionic PD. Some people can have more than one PD, or co-morbid mental disorders with a PD. I only know these things based on my own reading as I am something of a crazy person myself and have to know these things, the same way an asthmatic person has to know how to use their inhaler.

If this person is hurting you, you could get a security camera of some kind. You could get a baby monitor for cheap and conceal it in the space they enter. Alternatively, you could get a field camera used for hunting which is like a cheaper security camera that can be put outside, or you could get an actual security camera installed. My friend installed a security camera in their home after leaving an abusive partner. I think it was a smart decision since he was a vile person and posed as a real threat to their safety.

If they’re just some rando in your life like a troll on the internet, you could report them to the mods or block them. If it’s more extreme cyber bullying you’re experiencing, you could screenshot and log their activity, collect the evidence and contact authorities for intervention. The Government of Canada webpage on Criminal Harassment has a detailed article on stalking, and the steps you can take to protect yourself or put an end to it. Cyber stalking can be serious if the perp is writing death threats, or if they have vital information on you- ex they have your social security number or something like that.

I don’t know the context of your situation, but I’ll just leave this here and hope it can help you in some way! Sorry for the info dump.

Anyone who doubles down this hard to defend AI art theft machines fucking hates human artists, who are a branch of intellectuals. Nazis are known to openly hate, abuse the rights of and mistreat intellectuals. Fuck kava.