If you’ve ever wondered how AI can create art in minutes, you are not alone. We’ve been led to believe that massive computing resources work together to artificially create images based on our prompts. But at least one AI art generator Unstable Diffusion isn’t artificial at all. It turns out that this popular online tool is actually a hoard of low wage artist in Chinese AI sweatshops scattered across the country.
Damascus Dispatch reporter Dil Schlage took a trip to China to uncover the horror of artificial AI (aAI) art development. Most of the shops he visited were well lit and clean, although extremely crowded. The horror wasn’t the working conditions. Rather it is the mental anguish workers have to deal with that is most disturbing. “Please,” begged one art worker, “Stop asking me to draw things like one legged pole dancer in crotchless Hillary Clinton pantsuit eating a watermelon taco. I can’t take it anymore!”
At another shop, a supervisor confided, “The turnover rate is astronomical. After a few weeks of having drawing content in the sick minds of online users, many artists break down. They can’t sleep for the horrible images burned into their minds. Many of them just commit suicide.”
The rapid use and expansion of AI, and the ethical implications are a growing concern for everyone. But we must not overlook the equally disturbing impact of aAI in the process. If left unchecked, Chinese AI sweatshops could result a massive mental health crisis in the world’s most populus country.