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Culture War Roundup for the week of October 3, 2022

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If the experience of mechanisation was "wow, gorgeous!" instead of "yeah, now it's gonna be cheap, bad-tasting gunk", then people would be less alarmed about AI art (as distinct from the financial element). You say "More people can enjoy great food for cheap. And to be honest my tongue doesn't care, if it did, its priorities are not in order" but would you really not care if it tasted different? Why is that bakery your favourite bakery, if not for the very reason that it pleases your tongue? "Okay, now the cheesecake tastes like chalk and mouse-droppings and gives me diarrhoea after I eat it, but shut up tongue! The process is more efficient and cheaper and productive, who cares about the quality of the end product?"

So artists are losing people without taste who were being overcharged for what they were experiencing, people with taste will stick to real artists. What's the problem here? I can still get and do still get fancy hand crafted artisanal food, it costs as much as it always has. But now the poor can get at least an approximation for cheap enough for them to afford. I imagine high profile publications and AAA game titles will still have humans doing their art for them, but suddenly indie publications and indie games can afford as many art assets as they can productively use. This is a pure win for expression.