idk I think being is completely appropriate.

Playing devil’s avocado though, it is scary and intimidating to post art and other creative work online, especially if you’ve never shared anything like that before. Sometimes I’ve felt quite vulnerable and anxious about whether something I’ve made will be appreciated, ignored or straight up laughed at.

I’ve heard all over the place that there’s a growing cohort of young people who deeply believe “I can’t do that/I don’t know how” about anything new and unfamiliar (learned helplessness.) There’s also the recognised problem of people judging their own worth on what they perceive about other people online.

I wonder if factors like these have conditioned a lot of people to avoid failure and fear of humiliation to the point where they effectively “can’t” learn how to express themselves creatively.

After burning myself out at work I’ve struggled with so many things that don’t seem rational and which I know from experience I should be able to do. It is frequently upsetting and frustrating and confusing. Rarely a conscious resistance, subjectively it feels like brain damage.

From that perspective I can accept the possibility that a lot of people experience a deeply ingrained avoidant reaction to creating and sharing things that leave them open to criticism or rejection. For those people, I suspect generative content creation is a rational and appealing alternative.

Posting generative content is a lot safer by comparison. The generative model provides a layer of plausible deniability and ego shielding, similar to people can build an impulsive habit of expressing themselves through ironic detachment. Rather than taking direct responsibility or ownership and being vulnerable, there’s a disconnect between the poster/creator’s self identity / sense of worth and the product they are presenting to be judged and consumed. If the generative content they post is well received then they get to enjoy that positive reception and if the content is rejected it’s nothing to take personally because the chatbot made it.

I’m just speculating of course. Even if my intuition about this is accurate it’s still an unhealthy solution which masks the issue and, if the studies I’ve skimmed are accurate, will also accelerate skill deterioration. It also seems to lead to users misidentifying what they’re doing as work, or as artistic creation.

I guess it takes some of the smug out of my sails if I try to imagine the likely social factors that make posting AI slop more appealing than learning to create and express themselves.