Jesus Christ…data centers power far more than AI image generators. They power cloud storage, streaming video, searches, banking, scientific research. AI art generation is an insanely tiny slice of inference (query) usage….
Per output efficiency studies suggest that generating an AI image can have a much lower carbon footprint than a human illustrator working for hours (hundreds to thousands of times less in many estimates)especially when factoring in an artist’s full lifestyle, studio, materials, travel, and revisions….
And let’s not fool ourselves or continue to lie….Traditional art isn’t clean either…oil paints, acrylics, canvases, solvents, paper, and global shipping have chemical runoff, plastic pollution, water use (cotton/linen), and waste. Digital human art still runs on electricity and hardware (nice try)…
Resource intensity can be a fair criticism of scaling AI (and really most tech in general). Companies are improving efficiency with better cooling, renewables, and specialized chips. But framing all of this as “AI wastes resources to steal” is stupidly blind to the fact that human creative industries and modern life consume resources too. The solution is better energy production and efficiency, not halting progress caused by your either ill informed or overly emotional.
And let’s spit a few nails into the coffin lid of this idiotic comment chain…
Claiming AI steals or copies is the insanely weaker part of the argument. Humans copy other artists constantly… it’s foundational to learning and culture.
Art students copy masters (da Vinci, Van Gogh) in classes. Professionals use references, mood boards, photo studies (often copyrighted photos), and stylistic imitation. Art history is full of “appropriation”… Picasso drew from African art, Warhol screen printed photos, pop art, fan art, remixes, Collage, parody, homage… literally all involve “using the works of other artists”… so spare us the righteous indignation.
Your entire premise (and that of others) implies we humans create purely from “divine originality” while AI is a parasitic machine. Reality check chief… all creativity builds on what’s come before. The electricity/water point highlights genuine scaling challenges for AI infrastructure but it doesn’t make the process “stealing” lol.
Progress requires tradeoffs to address the externals (energy, consent) than romanticize pre AI art as “glorified and pristine”
Bad actors can prompt lazy copies… sure… just as we humans have always plagiarized. The real complaint is the economic disruption for SOME creators…