Last month I stepped into the breach to bravely defend a trillion-dollar corporation from social-media criticism: I felt that viewers of Apple’s new “Crush” iPad ad were being hypersensitive and overly literal in ascribing to it motives of contempt for creatives. But no good deed goes unpunished.
First, Apple inconsiderately apologized for the ad that I had said was fine, and conceded that it had “missed the mark.” (Thanks a lot, guys!) And then the company announced a series of AI features at WWDC that don’t just imply contempt for the creative professions, they shout it from the rooftops.
Over the past couple of years, it’s been pretty difficult to ignore the march of generative AI, with the world and his wife rushing to write sub-Vice think pieces about how much ChatGPT and its ilk have revolutionized the way they work or study. But the technology is likely to have loomed particularly large for illustrators freelance writers and copy editors, many of whom report that work is already drying up as clients cut costs by using AI options instead. To add insult to financial injury, they’re sure to be called Luddites any time they dare to complain about the situation; it must be tempting to emulate their 19th-century counterparts and smash a few looms.
Read more at Macworld.com