In a post-scarcity solarpunk future, I could imagine some reasonable uses, but that’s not the world we’re living in yet.
AI art has already poisoned the creative environment. I commissioned an artist for my latest solarpunk novel, and they used AI without telling me. I had to scrap that illustration. Then the next person I tried to hire claimed they could do the work without AI but in fact they could not.
All that is to say, fuck generative AI and fuck capitalism!
People buy GPUs already for video games and other purposes. We're using the same consumer cards, not enterprise ones.
That still involves you giving lots of money to card manufacturers. Which is rather centralized atm (not many competitors).
You give money to centralized monopolistic capitalists regardless what you do
Not when I’m creating art by hand.
Sure I’m paying for a pencil and paper, but you don’t need massive investment into means of production to create that.
That’s why the Industrial Revolution changed things, you now need big factories for your critical tools.
... now that's a silly take. A nearly $300 billion industry.
Paper creation is one of the worst sources of pollution and water drains on the planet. Far, far, far more than anything dealing with AI lol. Orders of magnitude higher.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulp_and_paper_industry
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1073451/global-market-value-pulp-and-paper/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_effects_of_paper
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2468584419300479
Writing instruments are a $17 billion industry... Get off the internet for a bit. Doomerism is getting to you.
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/writing-instruments-market