AI vs. HI Book Project Letter of Intent

Siding With The Humans

A letter to the publishers at Dancing Elephant Press

It is with great pleasure I submit to you this brief letter of intent regarding your book project, AI vs. HI. Writing for your publication, Dancing Elephants Press, has been a highlight of these first twinkling moments of the new year. I have been concerned about the presence of AI in the creative arts, but like so many other people, I have also felt unequal to the task of doing much more than scowling each time someone mentions it and trying to convince the creative people in my ambit that this is not just another harmless tech tool and that we could be on the verge of the total collapse of the rather slender economic safety net which allows those of us who can create to do so.

DEP’s campaign on Medium feels to me like the start of a much greater movement, one of (I hope) many seeds sprouting throughout the world in which artists stand up to the false equivalence of creation and mimesis. Wealthy and powerful interests will work to silence the voices that create without consideration of people like them, and many people will unthinkingly jump on the next tech bandwagon without giving it much thought. And just as people filed into Walmarts all over the country — and later funneled their money into online shopping sites like Amazon — and then lamented the loss of their main streets, so, too, will the world feel the dearth of artists that will come should AI dominate our fields, but by then it will be too late.

As we burn down our planet, we also seem hell-bent on creating more and more accelerants that hasten our destruction in more and more creative ways. Above all, it is the task of humans who are aware enough to see how dire our circumstance is to inspire people to feel for one another again. Only empathy can save a planet full of people who don’t seem to know how to stop our self-destructive behavior as a species. And AI art allows powerful people to call the tune, which will certainly be “business as usual.”

I believe you are a vanguard in this struggle, and I want in. Please consider my essays on this topic, which I will submit to you before the Jan. 31 deadline, for your book. I appreciate you, and I thank you in advance for your consideration of this request.

Yours,

Gabriel Piemonte

✍ — Published by Dr. Gabriella Korosi, at Dancing Elephant Press. Click here for submission guidelines.