pinkfluffywolfie

You're right; and I do dismiss that opinion quite frequently and have learned at this point to just make no comment and continue the conversation forward.

On that note: I am a member of the art community, I make digital and physical art as a hobbyist. Occasionally I do some commissions for people but it's not often. But, those commission requests are going down in number because people want instant art. One friend that made the comment of preferring AI art to me the other day said she does so because she doesn't want to spend time practicing, so instead she likes to generate images and trace them as it's more efficient and less taxing on her mind to make something. Assuming she's doing this for fun or therapeutic reasons, why would you want efficiency? Why would making something(even if it's a simple flower and sun in the corner of the page) be that taxing that you need to generate it? Let's think of why it's taxing first rather than skirting around that and using a generator that scrapes data from others illegally.

It's a consumerist mindset that really leaks into a lot of the aspects I've mentioned in my previous comment. And honestly, I don't think a lot of these people really believe AI art is better, I think they're so used to instant gratification in almost every part of their life that they're trying to get that dopamine hit regardless if it's quality content(work, art, stories, etc) or not.

I don't hate AI as much as I hate the nonexistent ethics surrounding LLM's and generative AI tools right now (which is what a lot of people refer to as "AI" at present).

I have friends that openly admit they'd rather use AI to generate "art" and then call people who are upset by this luddites, whiny and butt-hurt that AI "does it better" and is more affordable. People use LLMs as a means to formulate opinions and use as their therapist, but when they encounter real life conversations that have ups and downs they don't know what to do because they're so used to the ultra-positive formulated responses from chatGPT. People use AI to generate work that isn't their own. I've had someone already take my own, genuine written work, copy/paste it into claude, and then tell me they're just "making it more professional for me". In front of me, on a screen share. The output didn't even make structural sense and had conflicting information from the LLM. It was a slap in the face and now I don't want to work with startups because apparently a lot of them are doing this to contractors.

All of these are examples that many people experience with me. They're all examples of the same thing: "AI" as we are calling it is causing disruptions to the human experience because there's nothing to regulate it. Companies are literally pirating your human experience to feed it into LLMs and generative tools, turning around and advertising the results as some revolutionary thing that will be your best friend, doctor, educator, personal artist and more. Going further, another person mentioned this, but it's even weaponized. That same technology is being used to manipulate you, surveil you, and separate you from others to keep you in compliance with your running government, whether it be for good or bad. Not to mention, the ecological impact this has (all so someone can ask Gemini to generate a thank you note). Give the users & the environment more protections and give actual tangible consequences to these companies, and maybe I'll be more receptive to "AI".

I work in support; not only is it hard to find someone competent but it's an incredibly draining job/career because of both management and customers. People are attracted to it because barrier to entry is low, and half the time the actual technical part isn't necessarily hard, it's the emotional baggage you're expected to carry essentially at all times. There's been multiple instances where I've been so burned out, I'm almost certain it's permanently altered my brain chemistry. On top of that you have low wages, long hours, some places are B2B calls, expected to handle multiple chats at once, and some managers really like to snoop to see what you're doing all day(I see your icon went idle for 3 seconds, you're not taking a bathroom break are you? We need all hands on deck at all times).

This will never go away as long as it's seen as a job any idiot can do. Companies need to change how they truly value support and only then will it get better for the customer. I agree with you; if you find someone good try to be appreciative because the bad ones are a dime a dozen and we are all paid shit.

Maybe not dumbing down, but I can't ask friends for opinions without them telling me to ask an AI instead.

If I wanted an "opinion" from an LLM I would've done that instead. If I'm asking in chat I want YOUR opinion.

I'm not totally sure signal has it, but I like the ram shredding and socks proxy. I know molly isn't fit for everyone's threat model but those two features I do like to see so I use it instead; I've not run into any issues with it.

Its unfortunate; I speak as a US-ian and the way we make echo chambers rather quickly is not only surprising but annoying. Like I have to make a solid effort to go beyond my enclosure and find more global media and people from all over, because if I'm not careful I'll accidentally end up in one of the US bubbles and practically have start over to refresh it. One of the best parts of some of the communities I'm in is that they tend to be global, so I at least have that edge but I know for some it can be difficult for users to reach beyond what they know. They just tend to assume everyone they talk to is american.

Yeah, I use the molly fork because there's features I like about it. I'd be sad if I couldn't use it anymore. :(

I closed my account soon after I made one, for parallel reasons that you described here. I liked it for a short while because I am apart of the internet art community but it became an echo chamber too quickly. Lot's of AI dumping and and memification, cringey "We are warriors/witches they couldn't burn/etc", no fruitful discussion or organizing for the US peeps, shaming those who aren't doing exactly what someone else is doing, inner fighting, you name it. I think I just got on the wrong feed but it was pretty miserable and I ended up going back to forums for niche topics and then use lemmy and mastodon for general stuff. I'm waiting for the bubble to burst at some point.

I'm late to reply but putting deodorant on before bed is actually recommended - it takes around 6-8 hours for it to fully sink in and work! I do the same thing. What I was specifically mentioning in my op was bug spray. I used bug repellent(Off is a brand) before bed in high school because of flea infestations my mom refused to fix. I don't do this (and don't have to unless I'm camping) anymore thankfully.

You know, I have and they did dX me with eczema. I already knew I had that though; I started getting stress related pomphlox in graduate school. It's weird what stress can do to you. I will probably go again for another check up to see if they have any further input; I've had a busy schedule and have been putting it off for some time. Everyone has been so sweet here though, it genuinely has made me feel better!

Aw thank you! Life is waaay better now, granted I'm an adult and I have much more control over how my environment goes. But I no longer live in fear! So I'd say I've come great lengths.

It is kind of random, I only remembered because I have a current ulcer right now that's healing and it hurts to type sometimes! So it was like a "And by the way..." type of moment. I don't know what causes it, it's not insect related or me picking at them. It's a recent development and when I try to ask my doctor I get a shrug and "your blood labs are amazing!". I have a few other unexplained conditions I honestly think are related(raynaud's, dysphagia, autonomic disorders), and when I try looking up other experiences people might have with holes in their fingers I basically get regular finger infections and scleroderma support groups. I have yet to see someone else with literal random holes in their fingertips that cyclically turn into ulcers/heal again lol.