raisedbymoogles | the pitiful whining of a worthless creature

between one thing (politics, see previous posts) and another (theftgen AI now being used for basically everything I was ever even within spitting distance of decent at) it's getting more and more difficult to be hopeful about the future. Not, like, The Future, although that too, but just my personal future.

b/c Cost Of Living Crisis, my part-time minimum wage job isn't cutting it anymore, but thanks to being a college dropout with spotty knowledge of my chosen profession I'm not really qualified for anything better. also, AI invading the coding world and I want n-o-t-h-i-n-g to do with that. and making a living with fiction writing seems more out of reach than ever. I would need to severely up my wordcount to make that viable, and I would basically need a new brain in order to do that. And I definitely can't do it if I have to take on a full-time job.

I wonder if there's a market for, like 'certified AI-free website development!' for people like me who aren't comfortable with the way the arc of history is bending. Like, I'm no more prepared for freelancing than I am for any other aspect of Web 3.Suck, but there has to be an audience for that, right? But almost by default those aren't the type of people who can afford a bespoke website, who sell their stuff on Etsy or Shopify or similar places. Not sure I can compete in that market.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh hon. So sorry to hear this.

well, who isn't struggling these days. :/

>> I wonder if there's a market for, like 'certified AI-free website development!' for people like me who aren't comfortable with the way the arc of history is bending.<<

Given the amount of rage that many people express about the very concept of AI, anything certified AI-free is a good bet. *ponder* But there's a bigger option, which would be to create a certifying organization and its standards. More work, but potentially a great deal more money and very scalable.

>> Like, I'm no more prepared for freelancing <<

It's a set of skills that can be learned.

>>than I am for any other aspect of Web 3.Suck, but there has to be an audience for that, right? But almost by default those aren't the type of people who can afford a bespoke website, who sell their stuff on Etsy or Shopify or similar places. Not sure I can compete in that market.<<

You might consider crowdfunding, at least to test out the concept.

that's something I hadn't thought of, being answerable to an outside organization for the AI thing. XD

Every ethical or safety point in shopping that people argue over, which can have a set of standards applied to it, tends to develop a seal of approval by some organization which attests that a given instance follows those standards. They usually charge a fee to cover the time and work, or in some cases labe materials, to verify claims. I haven't seen that for AI yet. There might be something, but if so, it's still small enough for competition.

You would need:
* a name for the certification.
* a memorable logo.
* a manifesto about why it is important to distinguish all-human work from AI work.
* a set of standards, and you might want multiple options:
-- no AI-generated art
-- no AI-generated text
-- no AI-generated code
-- all tasks performed by humans (optionally, add worker protections like a living wage).
* a means of proving that work was done by humans with no AI use.

It's the last part that will probably prove most challenging. How is human work distinguished from AI work? Well, the easier ways may involve computer analysis ... which uses at least limited AI. :/ That won't work for this organization. So you have to consider alternatives. One would be transparency: a workplace where the human activity is visible and recordable. Another would be humans working together, each keeping the others honest. Art may be the simplest, because you could require it to involve an original in physical media (also a good thing to preserve) which is then scanned for website use. You'd need to ensure that the content is difficult or impossible for AI to copy, too, which means knowing its weaknesses. So for instance, your logo should include text, perhaps in more than one language, because so far most AI can't read and therefore can't replicate text from an image. (There are programs that scan text and read it aloud, but they tend to be separate from other types of AI, and are not the kind that people are hollering about.) This will all get more challenging over time as AI seeps into places where it is not visible.

Something else you might offer would be a database, which over time would become extremely valuable. List human-made websites, perhaps with a webring other way of helping people find them. List artists, writers, coders, etc. who eschew AI tools, either routinely or upon request. This would allow people to buy from them instead of AI, which makes your organization more useful and thus more powerful. I suggest keeping the database free to maximize its use. But if you wish to monetize the networking aspect, make the basic listing free and then sell storefront space or simply a more detailed listing (perhaps with photos) to those who want it.

Another option is simply to have a human swear that all the work is done by humans and, to the best of their knowledge, does not contain hidden AI within the base materials. You might have your certifications endorsed by a public notary. And thus, the best employee you could hire other than a coder would be a public notary to issue said certifications.

Happily, you don't have to do all that at once. You can start with the name, logo, manifesto, and at least one thing to certify with at least one verification. Start small and grow from there. That's what scalable means, and this has tremendous potential.

You could probably do the name, logo, and manifesto in a weekend. Devising a solid set of standards may take longer due to requiring research into AI, its strengths and weaknesses, how it is currently used, etc. and then detailing how to avoid it.

So far, I've seen a lot of flailing rage about AI but almost no concerted action. The most I've spotted are fragments -- places with an optional "no AI content" checkbox, but no way of verifying it; and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Robots, which has already been around a while. A certification would probably be useful and quite popular. Even if all you do is pledge that your own work is free of AI content, you could make the pledge form available to other folks as a consistent voluntary framework.

If you like the idea, we can continue mulling it over.

I'll be honest, this all sounds waaaaaay over my capabilities.

No problem. Your idea about making games is cool too.

thank you XD I definitely want to try my hand at making games! I just don't want to make it my career. Everything I've heard about gamedev as How You Make Your Living tells me it absolutely sucks.

Well, any commercial computer activity tends to suck because the field is so full of assholes. But if you work for yourself then you can choose your own work style. Consider that games are extremely popular on Kickstarter and often fund past their goals. It can be a side gig, but if you like it, you could expand.

Me, I've done conventional publishing. I found that crowdfunding is often more lucrative for me. I like working this way because I enjoy the audience interaction, I don't have a crappy workplace or boss, and ironically some of my fans have deeper pockets than poetry editors.

Hang in there. T-T

not much choice really XD

Ain't that the truth.

*Many hugs*

the pitiful whining of a worthless creature

no subject

no subject

Thoughts

Re: Thoughts

Re: Thoughts

Re: Thoughts

Re: Thoughts

Re: Thoughts

Re: Thoughts

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject