AI for Content Creatives - Hub
Some resources and articles that might be specifically useful for anyone interested in using AI to create ethical AI generated content that has value. As well examining why that's so hard to do.
This might be one of THE contentious issues of our time, outside of the political sphere.
When you land on this page you might be angry already.
You might be angry about the link that you followed to get here. You might be angry that this page even exists. You might just be angry because <gestures broadly to everything>.
That’s fine. People are angry and worried here because they have very compelling things to be angry and worried about. That this is a thing that may damage or destroy their own liveliehood. That this is a thing that may damage our collective access to knowledge, or broadly atrophy the abilities of humanity. That this is a thing that might see things of worth drowned out of sight in an endless creative void. That all of this may be built on theft, and that it might be powered by burning our future or, eventually, by enslaving new types of consciousness. That this might further enable a nascent Corporate Dystopia.
It’s OK to be worried about things like that. That’s quite the list…
That I think that those worries are credible is why this page is here.
I don’t have an answer to all these worries yet. But this hub is intended to make any work that I do in understanding the specifics of all of this accessible to others. Because every aspect of this is complicated.
But complicated is my kind of my thing, and experience has taught me that most people are more normal in their response to that. A lot of my career experience involves heroicly throwing myself in front of large documents so important people don’t have to know what Command-F does.
I am coming to this from a very mixed background. The creative, the commercial, and the technical.
I happen to think there is more complexity in all of these issues than often assumed. There is research here that I think many people would be suprised about. I’m sure that there is plenty more that I have yet to come across that will surprise me. I think that there are sacred cows in this picture that are avoidably blocking traffic. I worry that some of the people that need the most help here could be rejecting opportunity for the wrong reasons, to the profit of the worst of us. The intent of this page is partly to offer resources to creatives who do want to use these tools, especially if there are opportunities here to make that usage in any way less problematic.
Beyond all else. I want to properly understand all of this, and that is the goal. It’s easy to see how this stuff may result in ethical dilemmas for myself in the future and so I want to properly understand the dimensions of them when they arrive. I don’t think that the ethical solution to the trolley problem is to pretend that you haven’t noticed the lever. I see a lot of potential in AI for content creation, especially in enabling people to do things that would previously be impossible, especially on a smaller and less commercial scale, but I also, really don’t want to create anything that is devoid of worth. Neither do I want to be benefitting from the missaproppriated efforts of others.
I can’t promise you will agree with everything I will say here. I can’t even promise that you won’t be angry about it. But I can promise you that if you are it will be because these are genuinely complex and challenging issues, and I am bad at ignoring those, and not because I think provocation is somehow cool. If you think I am missing something obvious, let me know, because I probably am. Likewise if you spot any factual issues.
Based on what I currently understand, the following is what I anticipate adding here:
Technical aspects of AI particularly relevant to its use in creative projects.
What is creativity anyway? What do we actually know about LLM’s and their creative potential?
Gen AI and Predictability - And why this might represent the real practical problem in using AI for creative tasks.
Can AI content be ethical? Some discussion of the issues here, and my own tentative personal ethical framework for AI creative work (your mileage may vary).
Plagarism explained - What plagarism is and isn’t, how you might identify plagarism risk in AI content you have produced.
Legal risks from AI content - Some questions to ask a real lawyer.
Sentiment and reputation risks from AI content. - Why people are angry, and why it doesn’t matter if you are right if no one agrees with you about that.
The disengagement risk - Why I don’t think anyone is going to be saved by a bubble or a lawsuit, and I think some creatives might need to reframe their approach to AI. (And why we shouldn’t expect them to be happy about that).
Social risks from AI content? - Maybe skip this if you are already having a bad day.
Zero value content. Everywhere. All at once. - How we can all help deal with that.
AI content and misinformation. Factors driving risk. Potential for future risk that would probably make Orwell go for a lie down with a stiff drink.
Reasons to be temporarily cheerful: Good things that can come from Generative content
Aspects of this we need to understand better… - If you are listening Anthropic?
Specific guidance - LLM usage for research tasks.
Specific guidance - Generative AI usage within creative content.
Specific guidance - Using Generative AI to create image assets for other projects.
Specific guidance - Using AI in pitching and prototyping.
Specific guidance - Using AI in personal, or small business projects.
Specific guidance - Media pipeline risks from unauthorized AI usage.
Specific guidance - AI content detection, why it will probably never reliably work, and the unfortunate consequences of that.
AI search basics for content.
The good idea list - Things that generative AI can enable, that would not previously have been realistically possible without it.
The bad idea list - Logos and Trademarks, and Bystanders, Oh My. Things you should definitely not be using generative AI for, you absolute Muppet.
…………Resources for creatives……….
SARCASM (Systematic Aesthetics Resources for Content and Art Style Mapping). - 2000+ images breaking down what you can actually do with AI image tools
Creative taxonomies - Categories and word lists
External resources - Only the good stuff
Notable Research - Key research, meaning and impact explained
Practical ways that you can support creatives.
Creative directory: Nice people who could help turn your generative prototype into 100% human sourced media that you can stop feeling conflicted about.
…………Worked examples……….
AI research task post-mortem (mistakes flagged, positive points noted)
Human written work - AI detector submissions (What is flagged and why)
…………Short articles……………….
10 Questions you should probably ask yourself before using LLM’s to create content.
Could generative ad media be doomed by doppelgängers?
The God with the Gaps? Why the things that an LLM doesn’t know might hurt us.
Why AI may actually be good at coming up with new ideas, but be bad at examining them.
………Great articles from other people