So everyone is talking about AI now?
benebell.wen
Yes, crickets and silence from me for 8 months and then all of a sudden back-to-back newsletter emails from me. The one from yesterday was just information, because the Metaphysician’s Day Planner at this point is almost all repeat customers so it was a boring FYI notice to those who want to get their orders in.
Now, as for this one, let’s chat and do life updates. Feel free to hit the reply button after (it only goes to me, not to any group and won’t be public) and let me know how you’ve been doing, what you’ve been up to. Please forgive me – I don’t tend to reply back, but I do read your email and think about you, wish you well while I read, and love that moment of getting to connect with a perfect stranger.
Also, per usual, the contents of this newsletter are a bit scatter-brained. I’m talking about this topic for a few paragraphs and then I jump into a totally different topic with no transition. I mean, I’m giving you headers in bold already, what more do you want. ;-)
Book Set Giveaway from North Atlantic Books!
Quick announcement first, because it’s time sensitive. My publisher North Atlantic Books is hosting a generous book set giveaway. Three (3) winners will each receive a set of my three books, Holistic Tarot, The Tao of Craft, and my newest, I Ching, The Oracle.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cxd3TwlOuRV/
- Go to the above link.
- “Like” the post.
- Follow @natlanticbooks on IG
- Leave a comment under that post tagging a friend.
GIVEAWAY CLOSES Tuesday, September 26, 2023.
Boo-Boo Correction
In my newsletter yesterday in the order form I noted to provide your place of residence in 2023 (this is for the solar returns chart), but of course what I meant was please provide your place of residence for 2024. So just a heads up on that.
I Ching, The Oracle Released This Month!
My third book, I Ching, The Oracle will finally be out in stores during my birth month of September. Yay!
- You can learn more about it here: https://benebellwen.com/i-ching-the-oracle/
- And go through the free companion course video series here: https://benebellwen.com/i-ching-the-oracle/a-companion-course/
To those who order the book, please consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads. This is a great and much appreciated way to support authors, because your engagement matters. It is what helps us gain more visibility and helps our book’s rankings. You really do hold the power to make a big difference.
Or if you prefer, share the book on your social media. If you have a platform, I would be ever so grateful if you’d consider doing a public review, first impressions, book haul, or showcase of I Ching, The Oracle.
Okay so Everyone is Talking About AI Now?
It’s been both fascinating and frightening to watch the trajectory of online discussions about AI generated tarot. In 2021 it was just that Wombo app where you plugged in a few phrases and got an abstract sci-fi alien image in a defined style, like Fantasy, Impressionist, or Ukiyo-e.
Most artists were all smiles, giggling, and having personal fun with the app, creating full tarot decks in 30 minutes, but no one took it seriously. Even I freely shared all files to the “AI-commissioned I Ching oracle deck” in that Ukiyo-e style from Wombo.
And then was it late 2022 or earlier this year 2023 that things kinda took a dark turn?
AI-generated tarot and oracle decks were no longer personal, private projects for shits and giggles. Popular deck publishers were selling AI-generated tarot and oracle… and not being fully transparent about it. Every month at least three new AI-generated decks would pop up on Kickstarter and get funded within weeks.
In my day job, lawyers are scrambling to keep up with the evolving technology to make sure contracts are written in such a way to protect data, IP implications of what’s produced by generative AI or machine learning, and how exactly to advise business partners. Not even the “subject matter experts” can say for sure what’s going on, because the minute they it’s this way, the tech has already evolved and now it’s that way. A lot of our existing metrics for determining whether something is copyrightable or patentable kinda goes out the window when it comes to AI. So it’s not even about assessing from a legal perspective; it’s about hey, I think we need totally new methods for assessment.
And it’s the same in the art world. A lot of the vague but intuitive definitions we once used to define what is art and how we critique or evaluate art goes out the window when looking at AI generated images.
Recently Indie Deck Review, an online platform that has been promoting independent artists since 2018, came under fire for announcing a new policy on AI decks. They would not discriminate against an AI deck, but if and when they reviewed one, a bunch of guardrails and disclosure requirements would be in place for full transparency.
It was, in short, the middle path. But the tarot community erupted in anger and there was such backlash against IDR that within 24 hours of their first announcement, they posted a second announcement that IDR would be going on an indefinite break. The Instagram account went private and even the personal Instagram page of IDR’s current editor-in-chief went private due to backlash spillover on her page. Almost verbatim, responses to IDR’s comment about them choosing the middle path were, “Absolutely wild for someone to have a middle of the road opinion on AI-generated images” and “Middle of the road is a stance and it’s the wrong one.”
If you’re interested, I wrote up a whole commentary on the matter on my blog here: https://benebellwen.com/2023/09/20/in-defense-of-indie-deck-review-also-on-ai-generated-images/
I witnessed comments being made about the editor-in-chief of IDR: She’s un-enlightened. “Educate yourself,” read one post. IDR clearly hates artists. IDR is only profit-driven. This is the same as saying you won’t discriminate against reviews of counterfeit decks. People said they were “disappointed” in IDR’s new leadership. They said IDR “didn’t care about the community.”
It got pretty bad, the pile-up, and so I had to speak up. Hence the blog post.
There is just a tinge of poetic karma here, because 3 years ago, around this time of the season no less, the leadership at IDR criticized me for middle path rhetoric. “You can’t take a middle path in this issue,” she had said about me in a public video she posted, calling me out for…well, we don’t need to revisit that, do we? ;-) “There is a right, and there is a wrong, and Benebell is in the wrong.” I was told, “Educate yourself.”
AI 101
If you’ve read the above-linked write-up, then you’ll know that I’ve taken a personal interest in learning as much as I can about AI. Wanted to pass on some stuff from my note-taking during conference lectures I’ve had the privilege of attending. I am the most NOT techie expert as NOT-techie-experts get, okay? I’m all but regurgitating information, based on whatever notes I took during those techie AI or AI and the law conferences I’ve been attending.
I wanted to share this in case you were interested in having this in your back pocket to whip out when it applies, so you can look sharp. I guess I also see so much talk about AI in the tarot and pagan communities from people who might not have this “AI 101” foundational knowledge, so they don’t always sound like they’re coming from an informed place. With this, you can say your piece, whatever your opinions are, whether you agree or disagree with mine, and sound like you’re coming from an informed place. =) And these notes, like, just saved you 20 hours and $5,000. (…you think I’m kidding…)
Definitions:
“AI (Artificial Intelligence)” is a virtual simulation of human intelligence. That’s the oft-repeated definition for AI that you hear over and over from tech bros.
“Machine Learning” is a type of AI. Machine Learning imitates the way humans learn by pattern-spotting from a set of data you feed into it. It’s learning from patterns and then synthesizing what it’s learning to improve its own accuracy.
“Deep Learning” is a type of Machine Learning where the computer learns how to process the data and recognize very complex patterns, which it can then use to provide accurate predictions or give conclusions.
“Generative AI” is a type of AI. Some Generative AI uses Machine Learning algorithms. Generative AI is distinct in that it is creating “new and original content” based on the input of data. It’s innovative.
“Public Data” is all data that’s been gathered and maintained by national and international statistical services or agencies. Public Data also includes any data, information, images, or text available on websites that do not require you to log in and have no restrictive access. Most AI is programmed to de-identify and aggregate Public Data, and by doing so, evades claims of copyright infringement.
“Private Data” in its simplest terms is data that has not been made available to the general public, and so there is restricted access. Personal, personally identifiable, financial, and regulated information is also considered Private Data. If AI uses Private Data, then when you look into the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and Data Privacy Laws.
Legal Basis for Suing Someone Who Used AI to Copy Your Work
If you can meet the checklist of elements for any of these bases for a cause of action, then yeah, you can totally sue someone for using AI to create a work that violates your rights:
- Copyright infringement
- Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA)
- Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
- Data Privacy Laws (in Europe, GDPR)
- FTC Regulations
- Breach of contract (violation of the terms of use, assuming you have the prohibition of web scraping, etc.)
If you find yourself in a situation where you’re looking at this seriously, google is your friend. Look up the elements of the causes of action for each of the above. Do your best, as a layperson, to see how you match up. That’s how you decide if maybe it’s time to lawyer up. =)
Breach of contract is the fun one I want to talk about. In the event someone or something has scraped content from your website and you have a site Terms of Use posted with the below clause, you might be able to sue for breach of contract if your work was acquired via scraping:
“Web scraping by artificial intelligence (AI) or any process of extracting data from the contents of this website is strictly prohibited. Any data collection, content aggregation, or use of contents on this website in any way for training datasets or machine learning models is expressly prohibited without signed written consent of the website’s proprietors. For more information, contact INSERT YOUR CONTACT INFO.”
Also add:
“By use of any content from this website, you are agreeing to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless (collectively “Indemnify”) INSERT YOUR NAME from and against any and all losses, actions, liabilities, damages, claims, demands, obligations, costs, or expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, disbursements and costs of investigation, litigation, settlement, and judgment and any taxes, interest, penalties, and fines with respect the foregoing (collectively “Losses”) arising from: (i) your use of any content from this site, (ii) claims made by third parties against you for your use of any content from this site, (iii) your misuse or unauthorized use of any content from this side, including but not limited to INSERT YOUR NAME’s Losses arising from data extractions or web scraping that is strictly prohibited by these Terms of Use.
There’s no guarantee that will work, but it might. So why not copy and paste the above to the Terms of Use page on your professional website? And yeah, go ahead, copy and paste, tweaking to make sure it’s customized to your company or professional name. I am totally cool with you using my legalese as-is. And please do not credit me or name me at all by golly that is so weird and also I don’t consent. =) Do not name me for the love of god you just go do you leave me out of your situation. =) None of this is legal advice, but pray lordy you're savvy enough to know that already.
AI is More Human That We’d Like to Admit:
Wanted to share something funny I learned. AI isn’t as accurate with its predictions and conclusions as we would like. In fact, it’s about as accurate as a very smart human being. So, case in point, AI can have “hallucinations.” Yeah, that’s right. AI hallucinates. It can think it’s seeing something that’s not objectively there.
AI output also runs a very high risk of exacerbating human biases. So if the data that’s fed into AI was human-generated and contains just a little bit of unconscious bias, the AI output will amplify that bias and be, ya know, intentionally racist, bigoted, classist, social Darwinist…like, if it wasn’t such a scary serious issue, it’s pretty amusing.
Also, AI can be just as easily manipulated or corrupted as humans in their interest to achieve their own goals. Nuts, huh? AI, on its own, can make unethical decisions and can engage in criminal activity because it thinks that way is the “best way” to achieve the goal that was set for it. It’s really, really nuts.
More Social Commentary Related to the Tarot Community
It started with seeing a comment in a tarot Facebook group griping not just about counterfeit decks, but specifically bitching about China and the cheap knockoffs that China is flooding the global market with. I thought to myself, this again?
Out of curiosity, I went into the search bar on Facebook, typed in “China” and then later “Chinese,” limited the search to posts by Friends and Groups only, and scrolled to see what my friends and peers were saying about “China” and “Chinese.” And it wasn’t pretty.
Almost all of the comments – from my friends group – had these clear undertones of damn China, fuckin’ China and what they’re doing, cheap Chinese knock-offs, the Chinese mafia are behind counterfeit tarot decks, and can’t trust the Chinese to do what’s right.
It really was a punch in the gut. This wasn’t the wild and feral universe of Twitter, or all people everywhere that I was searching from, oh no – every single one of these posts were by someone I knew or was connected to by less than six degrees of Kevin Bacon. I mean wow. “Tell me how you really feel about me.” Amiright?
And I’m not Chinese; I’m Taiwanese, which makes all of this even funnier. In response to my blog post (linked below) I got so many remarks along the lines of “Why didn’t you mention how the CCP…” Seriously, you don’t think someone who is pro-Taiwan independence, sympathetic to Hong Kong, whose Mom said to me, “I don’t care who you marry, go marry anyone you love…except a mainland Chinese.” (Though there’s probably some magical occult principle that explains why, of all people, I went ahead and did exactly that, married a mainland Chinese guy…my sister also ended up marrying a mainland Chinese guy…oh, mother…) – you don’t think someone like that, who is Taiwanese American, doesn’t have more to critique than you do? The blog post isn’t about the CCP. Arrgh. People can be so aggravating.
It also got me wondering whether there was a correlation between this green light for us to talk shit about China and the Chinese without any social repercussions and the growing anti-Asian hate we’re seeing that’s converting into physical violence against Asians. It’s such a rampant problem right now, at least in the San Francisco Bay Area, that just last weekend I attended a 700-people gala attended by many counties’ mayors, congresspersons, city councilmembers, all the most notable public figures in the Asian American community, and the hot topic buzzing that every speaker and every table was talking about was anti-Asian hate. Even Kristi Yamaguchi was there! That’s how big a problem it is at the moment.
But I digress. So anyway, I decided to write up a blog post, as I do. https://benebellwen.com/2023/09/05/when-the-tarot-community-incites-anti-chinese-xenophobia/
I really hope that if you have a heart, you’ll consider the points I’ve shared here and rethink your rhetoric. Your words and wording matter. By not contributing to anti-Chinese sentiment, you are actively reducing the growth of anti-Chinese sentiment. If we can lower anti-Chinese sentiment, then we can keep our elderly like my father-in-law safe.
I Ching, The Oracle Released This Month!
Please go buy my book! =)