{"slug": "soaking-in-the-slop", "title": "Soaking in the Slop", "summary": "A blogger known as moodywarlock argues that generative AI is a 'global grift' that ingests copyrighted material to enrich billionaires, calling large language models, chatbots, and art generators an 'insincere scam' that funnels money and power to a few. The author urges artists to shun AI in favor of authentic connection and warns that AI shortcuts the art journey, reducing meaning and human connection.", "body_md": "# Soaking in the slop\n\n*\n*\n\nWe're in a post-ai time. At least, it feels that way. There was a time when nobody was talking about it, and now it's everywhere - saturated feeds, ai music, ai photos, vibe coding. I'm completely sick of it. I know it's being pushed as inevitable and *the next stage in human evolution* because some socially awkward, bored, power-hungry billionaires are trying to reshape the world as they see fit and make even more coin. Only one thing is inevitable, and it's not ai.\n\nShould it generate dismay in artists? Possibly. Generative ai is a global grift where copyrighted stuff has been ingested for free so billionaires can sell it back to us. Ai is a way to absorb human skill and produce dependency for profit and control. I'm aware of productive uses of ai-type systems, but this proliferation of large language models, chatbots, art generators, and anthropomorised llms is an insincere scam designed to funnel money and power into the hands of a few.\n\nSo, let them soak in the ai slop. Let them be saturated with hallucinated facts and garbage. The only positive I see is that artists might create their own cottage industry and shun ai in favour of authentic connection. As for me, I cannot abide it. I do art for myself. Those who view art as outcomes to be sold are blind to the time, the failures, the struggle, the learning, the journey, the story, and the human connection that's also part of art. Depending on ai not only serves profit motives, it also shortcuts the art journey to get to the end product to be sold.\n\nI read about one person who'd always wanted to be a music producer and now he's using ai music generators to make music. So, what had he been doing for the last decade? Why not just take time to dig in and learn? Of course, ai is the convenience machine that reduces sweat, toil, time, and failure - all the roughly textured stuff that provides meaning in life to people who understand art.\n\nLet them soak in the slop. Let them marinate in the urine of spiritless billionaires. Let them smoothe their brains and hollow out their eyes. Let them become dependent idiots who feed uncaring tech-lords. Let them short-cut their way to meaninglessness.\n\n[RSS feed](mailto:moodywarlock@proton.me?subject=Soaking in the slop>Email me about this post. Subscribe to my blog via