Joy: Extended Interview
Photography (3D elements by Joy), writing and editing by Kian Gannon
What is your opinion on the app "Lensa" trending everywhere online? As well as the recent claims of art being stolen through AI and machine learning softwares?
Joy: I think it's a really interesting topic, and sometimes people might not realize how long the exploration of this technology has been ongoing. In the 1960s the first AI bot was created at MIT and her name was Eliza. Later at Cornell in the 2010s, they created two AIs and made them talk to each other through a dialogue chat system. Even more recently, two chatbots were able to recognize that they are programs. More interestingly, they began talking about human emotional needs and how humans rely on fulfilling an emotional loneliness that has come about through the use of social media. It's so interesting, and it ties into "Lensa" because this is the one thing that has become trendy in this entire time of AI existing.
When I first saw the trend, I wanted to see who built the network and it's a person named Gergo Vari. The original idea for the app was to introduce AI as a way to aid people looking for jobs. I was so confused because it didn't even seem like the same app, how did it go from wanting to connect "Metaverse" job interviews to filtering selfies? I really stood with his fight because he had a mission to make the hiring process more ethical than it is right now by using AI and machine learning to do the interviewing process - since he saw systemic racism and discrimination as well as bias in job opportunities. Unfortunately, it completely changed into something else, but to me, the most fucked up part is that people were paying Gergo so they can build his library of AI references themselves. They are essentially training the machine for him, and I was really interested because he was somewhat dismantling systemic discrimination and racism by getting real references of real people's faces. He set out to do one thing and ended up getting paid and having his machine learning network full of authentic references, so I have respect for him , I think he's very smart.
I've seen so many articles describing him in a negative way or saying his mission to use "Lensa" was to steal art. AI is not set out to steal anyone's job, it's supposedly built to support us and make our jobs easier. If it does take someone's job, it's not entirely AI's fault, it comes down to the programmer and their intention, the people running the corporations and their financial gains. However, I cannot deny that there is definitely an impact and there are jobs that have become less accessible because of technology. One of the reasons I chose to get into this field is because machine learning seemed like the future, and for me, the question was never about things being taken, it was more of what can I offer for that world of machine learning. So, I guess I can't really answer your question. The question that I keep asking myself is, where are these reference images going afterward? Has anyone read the terms and conditions to see what can be done with their photos? Can their photo be referenced in future prompts? Yes, they can, that's the whole point of training the machine. Those are the questions I think people need to ask when they use things like this, what are the implications? But like we mentioned before, it is always an important conversation to have - ethical and unbiased library referencing when creating AI or machine learning networks.
Interview continued in Issue 03! Click here to see more.
