Like many other technologies in our lives, generative AI quickly became a commodity. Generative AI has known an exponential, explosive growth since 2020. Today generative AI got integrated into almost every bit of software, and is all over our social media and websites. In my opinion there are 3 big reasons to stay away from generative AI as much as you can. The reasons are prety straightforward and obvious to me as an illustrator, brand designer, artist and overall creative person. I hope they become as onbious to you whatever your profession or position might be.

1. Generative AI makes you lazy and dependent
AI Enthousiasts start to think like drug addicts. Get your kicks, fast and cheap. In my line of work, visual thinking and graphic storytelling, I would never let go of my quadrant of tangible tools and tangible materials: the pencil, the brain, the eye and the the canvas. Then, there is the value of the struggle and experience when looking for answers and solutions, which is in my opinion the core of creativity. I would never want to let go of all the learning moments when failing forward, the fun and reward of overcoming obstacles and discovering new things. Brings us to the next reason: a large part of your audience will notice when you took these easy shortcuts. Do those shortcuts save you a bunch of time? Probably. But was it worth it?

2. Generative AI makes you and your company look like a drooling fool
Surely they will solve those hands with 6 fingers and skateboards with 2 and a half wheels someday. But even with that solved, AI generated imagery still has that eerie and uncanny vibe. That is something that will not get solved in my opinion. Generative AI is based on data, but a growing part of that data is AI generated. So this type of auto-cannibalism will most likely keep producing incestuous monstrosities. And I am definitely not the only one who will notice that your very interesting linkedin post was written by a computer and 'illustrated' with unpersonal, ugly and in many cases stolen imagery.

3. Generative AI is destroying ecosystems and creative industries
Then one thing a lot of people seem to be aware of but will, consciously or not, sweep under the rug: the real cost, namely the amount of destruction in AI’s wake, both to our planet and to our creative industries. I learned that the data centers on which AI runs require huge amounts of cooling water, new nuclear power plants and even fossil fuel to keep running. We are destroying what’s left of our already damaged and endangered ecosystems. Moreover, we also create a ton of digital waste. Most of the time we generate images that do not last: we look at it once or twice, have a laugh or get impressed by how well it has generated your friend as a garden gnome and then forget about it.
 Concerning the creative industries that are suffering or already went bust, I don’t buy the theory that in the past other technological advancements have similarly caused certain other industries to become obsolete. It is not ‘just the way things go’, there is a big difference. For example photography didn’t destroy the art of painting but caused abstract art. Movies and television didn’t destroy classical theatre, but evolved into new forms and shapes, and comic books and video games didn’t make reading books obsolete and became just a new art form to explore and develop. We see in those examples that each time the invention was followed by a new type of creativity. Unfortunately this does not seem to be the case with generative AI. There is not only the problem of plagiarism and big money being made out of the hard work of creative people, the main idea is that our young generation would have no reason to choose a creative profession, and that we might miss out on the new Da Vinci, the new Charlie Chaplin, the new Frank Zappa or the new Einstein in generations to come.

Is it all bad news and darkness? No, I am still optimistic. I already feel a growing tendency toward authenticity, personality and renewed interest in tangible artwork. I am hopeful the pendulum already has the intention of swinging the other way. But in the meantime I would advise everyone to stop generating digital waste and become aware of the importance of creativity. If not for the sake of your company's image, the creative industries, the artists or the ecosystem, do it for yourself.

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