Over 20 years ago, Prince was talking about real music by real musicians against the uprising of digital tools like DAWs. And now, more than ever, that statement needs to become more common. But in a different sense. Humans versus artificial intelligence. And not just the utility itself, but people all over the world who just want to make a quick buck, and don't want to put in the effort.

We have to stand up against those who use AI to remove the soul and creativity from people who enjoy what they do. It's not just a problem for the music industry, we're seeing it happen everywhere, in books, movies, podcasts, videos, graphic design, and more. There is a difference and a fine line between using AI as a tool and using it as a wholesale replacement for human output. And people continue to blur that line to a point where regardless of your intentions, it is generally frowned upon to use it at all.

Yes, it is great and all that a new technology is here and it's advancing rapidly, but I think we should stop to ask if it's moving too fast? It's only been 4 years since this industry was publicly introduced to the general public with ChatGPT in 2022, and it's grown to an incomprehensible scale with thousands of labs, individuals, and investors in artificial intelligence.

Billions and trillions of dollars being spent by practically every tech company to get in on the game. The same companies who do not like spending more than the bare minimum to do anything really. Just the simple fact that the spend is going up by exponents is very telling as to what they bet a lot of their future on.

And generally speaking, it's only going to get worse from here as AI becomes more efficient, cheaper, and capable.

Though, it is important to note, there are things that can be done, and I have done my best to compile a list of what I have found on xxavv.com/real-work-by-real-humans. It includes resources for spotting AI, reporting it, and tools to block it.

One last thing to mention is that it should not be as hard as it is to not support the people who are actively creating AI media and NOT saying as such. So where ever you can, if you care, you should call out your favorite social media platforms to give us all more options in our content preferences, to avoid this wherever possible.

Thank you,

~ xxavv