I am the universe, and therefore the universe has a purpose in giving me consciousness for a lifetime. We get a lottery for what life-form we get created in (whether we’re a human or a fish or a leaf) and most of that life will go just chasing the continuity of life (consuming energy, burning energy, reproducing), the rest is all made up rules of engagement in society (school, work, career, politics), all of which is “Leela” - a very believable illusion, like a game of monopoly or a very engaging play or a movie - believable, but not absolute truth. So back to the universe and why it gave me consciousness in the first place? It’s just so that I can experience the universe, and see the beauty and oneness of all universe - not just the stars and the planets, but also the living forms of it - the flowers, the bugs, the pets, the wildlife, and all of the other humans on this planet, each one a unique fucking marvellous magical version of the same universe.
AI art -
For someone who creates art - AI art is meaningless because art really is about how the process of creating art itself makes us feel, how each brush stroke fills us with joy as the whole picture comes together more beautiful than we imagined. Even in misery and failure, it really was about the experience and living through those moments.
For someone who just appreciates art - AI art is soulless because there is nothing authentic about it, nothing relevant or connecting you to any story or person. I can’t imagine anyone even putting AI art on their walls.
For someone who previously had poor access to artistic expression simply because they lacked the artistic skills - AI allows them to express themselves freely unlike ever before. For advertisers and slop generators - they were gonna automate it anyways, it’s still a useful tool to create digital campaigns if you’re into that, but with all the slop out there, AI will only accelerate humanity’s move away from attention economy to sustainable economy.