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I'd argue that we already satisfy your premise: humans don't treat machines or AI agents as equals, and this bias won't change as long we maintain control over them.
> If that is selfish, then let us be selfish. What's wrong with being selfish?
Your confusion regarding the generative AI relies on assuming that we are not being selfish in this situation, allowing a machine to have a free pass using copyrighted images while affecting human artist's livelihoods.
However, my observation is that our support for a machine scraping content indiscriminately is actually a manifestation of extreme selfishness. Billions of non-artists now have access to high-quality, creative material at minimal cost. This is not just about the financial aspect. Many of us have always longed to express our ideas through art — writing, painting, creating music— and see these technologies as avenues to fulfill these desires.
Given these benefits, it's not surprising that humans would support arguments ensuring the continuation of these tools - even if some aspects challenge our moral values.
Some of these arguments include:
- 'this is just progress and inevitably machines always replace humans';
- If you upload your art online so anybody can see it, why can't a machine see it?
- artists copy and inspire themselves all the time.
Yet, society will bring different arguments - and even conflicting ones - for the same machines if the incentives, particularly financial ones, are misaligned.
For instance, there are numerous situations where a machine (like a camera) is prohibited from 'seeing,' whereas humans are not. In some jurisdictions, facial recognition is restricted/regulated.
So why should an machine be barred from viewing public images, especially when any human could be in the same spot staring at people's faces all day long? Here, we don't trust others and predict that such image usage will more likely have a negative impact on our lives. So far, this has nothing to do with whether we care about machines or not.
In summary, the apparent support of humans for generative AI seems primarily driven by selfishness, yet we cleverly (maybe inadvertently?) cover with rational arguments to avoid conflicts with our moral integrity.
This is my first post here and I hope having doing my best exposing my POV.