This is so controversial that you’re probably going to want to cancel me, but hear me out.
So, I just read an article where, allegedly, Cate Blanchett, along with someone whose name I don’t even remember anymore, created some sort of organization to protect creative works from AI and whatnot. I don’t really remember all the details, but it got me thinking about AI protection and how creators are supposed to protect their work.
And immediately, of course, the whole project was backed by people like Kristen Stewart, Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, and whoever else. I don’t even remember. It doesn’t matter.
But I was thinking about how, obviously, this project is probably going to be backed by other major names who appear on pretty much every grand petition or public letter. Remember the Gaza ceasefire letter? Don’t be surprised if you eventually see Rowan Blanchard, Joey King, Yara Shahidi, Ariana Grande, and Sabrina Carpenter backing this up.
My point is that not every creator is actually afraid of AI. And I will explain what I mean.
Months ago, I wrote an article about an underrated actress named Mackenzie Foy. Why is that important? Because it made me think about the difference between actors and creators who work in fields that are actively being changed by AI and people who have focused on things that are not really being challenged by AI in the same way.
For example, Kristen Stewart works in moviemaking and acting, which have both been challenged by AI. That’s why there were strikes three years ago. Mackenzie Foy, meanwhile, is literally focusing on horses.
How are horses affected by AI? Essentially, AI is almost nonexistent in the equestrian world and the horse world in general. How does it affect horses? Somebody explain it to me. I don’t get it. Maybe she should.
Anyway, it had me thinking that a lot of people who focus so much on AI and are deeply afraid of it might be afraid because they don’t know how to use it.
I grew up as the daughter of someone who studied computer engineering back in the eighties, in a socialist country, at a military school. He does not actually work as a computer engineer, and he does not really use his degree professionally. He does other things. However, he still has that knowledge and that particular set of skills.
He is one of the first people I go to whenever I have an issue with my computer or something similar. He’s always been the person we trust in our household, our home, and our family whenever there’s a problem with a computer. And even he doesn’t know how to fix everything.
So, I grew up knowing certain things about computers. Obviously, I still struggle to understand or explain the difference between certain technical things. I’m not an advanced computer expert. But I knew how to navigate a computer, type online, and use the internet before I could properly use my hand to write. I was that girl.
I was never afraid of technology. I’ve always been curious, I guess, about how to use it.
And I guess I’m going to sound like I’m defending AI too much, but honestly, when I tell you that this thing saved my life a few years ago, you’ll probably be like, “Girl, how could you be defending this?”
Well, I’m sorry, but that’s what happened.
When I discovered ChatGPT in January of two thousand twenty-three, let me just tell you, at first, I thought it was simply a website that would help me by writing some shit for me, like little short fanfictions and whatnot.
Then I thought that GPT stood for Get Paid To because, at the time, I was experimenting with a bunch of GPT-type websites, such as Swagbucks and whatnot. I thought this chat was designed to help you do things, or do things for you, and then you would sell them, if that makes sense.
Later, I realized that this was low-key a gold mine. Eventually, I developed a side hustle with it. I used it to do other people’s assignments.
ChatGPT is what helped me pass my exams. It summarized my notes. I needed those summarized notes so that I could use them with the blurting method and, not going to lie, cheat on some exams.
ChatGPT also helped me build entire-ass universes by helping me write stories, develop headcanons, and figure out a bunch of things. It still helps me to this day with writing and a lot of other things.
It also helps me clean up my articles for my blog sometimes because my thoughts are actually too messy and need to be cleaned up. I say a lot of things, but I don’t always get to the point, especially when I dictate. I tend to dictate my articles these days because, again, I have a lot of things to say at the moment, and I don’t want to forget them. I find it easier this way.
That doesn’t mean ChatGPT is the perfect option or the best thing since sliced bread. Obviously, it has its faults, and I can understand why people are afraid of it, if not terrified.
The difference, though, is that AI is not quite like social media. How do I explain it?
I feel like a lot of people are afraid of AI because they witnessed the downfall of social media. They saw how unhealthy it could be for people’s mental health, along with the division and the whole us-versus-them mentality that gets amplified online.
But you can choose not to participate in social media, at least mainstream social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and whatnot. With AI, it’s harder to opt out because a lot of things are going to be automated.
But hear me out. My unpopular opinion is that, as a creator, you don’t have to be terrified of AI. You don’t have to take a political stand against AI and completely denounce it. You have to learn that it is going to be around.
Another lesson, honestly, and okay, this is going to sound a bit weird, preachy, and religious, but here’s how I truly feel about it.
I don’t really care if AI steals my shit, and I’ll explain why.
Again, this is going to sound very religious and very preachy, but I am an Eastern Orthodox Christian. I was baptized as one. My mother was also baptized into the faith, and she was born into a family that practices this religion.
I do not practice my religion the way it should be practiced, with daily prayer and whatnot, which I really need to get into at some point in my life. But I’ve always known that God watches over me.
Because of that, I believe God knows what you’ve created, okay? And you know what you’ve created because you have the memory of creating it.
Most likely, you remember creating it. You remember the thought process. You remember the methods you used, the programs you opened, or whatever tools helped you make it.
Let me give you an example. I created a pretty popular manip for one of my favorite fandoms. I posted it on an editing app. Let me tell you, it has been remixed so many times that, at this point, I look at it and think, “I know this is my manip.”
Realistically, I should be saying, “Oh my gosh, why aren’t you giving me credit? This is my thing. I created it.”
But you know what? I didn’t care.
Maybe that’s simply my mindset because I create because I want to create. I’m that type of person.
And yes, at one point, around ten years ago, before AI and all of this, there was still the demand for creative rights. A lot of people were saying, “Give credit. Give credit if you use it.”
And I get it. I understand why protecting your creative work matters.
But as someone who has always created because I wanted to create, rather than because of fame or anything like that, it has never bothered me that much when people tried to steal my shit. That doesn’t mean I haven’t dreamed of becoming a bestselling author. But I usually create because I have a story to tell or because an idea has appeared in my head.
I know that I made it.
So, honestly, if you feed AI a story about, let’s say, Katniss and Peeta that I wrote when I was fifteen, go ahead. God knows I created that story. I know I created that story, and I have the memory of creating it. I remember working on it.
Maybe twelve years after writing that story, I don’t remember every single detail. But I remember that I was the one who created it. I remember thinking about it.
At this point, I’m not stressing about whether AI is going to steal my shit because, come on, AI is going to steal all kinds of things over the next five, ten, twelve, or fifty-seven years.
It’s going to steal your shit.
There’s no way to avoid it unless you completely go off-grid.
And even then, someone could take a photo of you. Think about the dangers of this world. Anyone could take a photo of you, use it to train AI, create fucking pornographic chatbots with it, make deepfakes, and do all kinds of other fucked-up things.
Nobody consented to having their image used that way. It sounds terrifying.
But does that mean you should somehow escape from the world and stop living? I don’t know.
It doesn’t mean you should live your life in fear. You should go out, make friends, and create memories, and just basically live your life.
And yeah, I know there’s a danger of AI or technology somehow stealing your consciousness and whatnot.
But honestly, maybe it’s because I sometimes feel too detached from the world, like I wasn’t made for this world, but I’m telling you that remembering you created these things will help you live a calmer life.
As a creator, I’m also going to say this plainly: I do not recommend registering your projects with the organization associated with Cate Blanchett.
What I would recommend instead, and I don’t want this to sound like I’m pushing my beliefs onto anyone, is backing up your work offline. Get an SSD drive with at least two terabytes of storage, keep multiple additional backups, and document your creative process as thoroughly as you can.
One day, you might be asked to prove that you created something.
Do you seriously want to rely entirely on unions, organizations, or similar projects to defend you?
Learn how to defend yourself by yourself.
Obviously, if you choose to support this project, you can do whatever you want. I’m simply saying that I believe the better choice is to document your creative process, store that documentation offline in multiple places, and back up everything that matters to you.
Save your drafts. Save your notes. Save screenshots. Save the different versions of your work. Save the files that show how an idea developed and changed over time.
People can betray you. Organizations can betray you. Unions can betray you.
There is something else I think creators should consider before placing their trust in an organization like this.
A lot of the public figures who support projects like this are not necessarily the people who taught you to question things. At least from what I remember, some of these people were not especially supportive of those who questioned popular narratives or expressed different beliefs years ago.
People who challenged certain ideas were often dismissed as uneducated, mocked, or bullied. Now, some of the same public figures may present themselves as defenders of questioning, critical thinking, and people who have supposedly been censored.
Again, I don’t want this to sound like I’m forcing my beliefs onto anyone. If you choose to register your work with this organization, that is your decision.
But at the very least, remember that some of the people involved might not have respected you for having different beliefs less than ten years ago.
Do you really want to trust those kinds of people without asking any questions?
Trust yourself instead. Trust your instincts. Think critically about who is asking for your work, what information they want from you, how they intend to store it, and what they might eventually do with it.
I recently read an article about how members of Gen Alpha are beginning to question the things they see online. They are apparently labelling all kinds of things as AI and refusing to accept every image or video at face value. Some people see this as a sign that these children are developing stronger critical-thinking skills.
And critical thinking is incredibly important here.
That is why I keep saying that you need to be careful about who you trust. How do you know the true intentions behind this project? How do you know what it might become in five or ten years?
I don’t know the answers to those questions. That is precisely why I think people should ask them.
If you still choose to register your project or support the whole thing, please be careful. Read what you’re agreeing to. Keep your own copies. Document everything independently. Don’t hand over control of your creative history and assume someone else will always protect it for you.
For real, just be careful.
I’m only saying this because somebody has to.
Again, I don’t care if you cancel me for saying any of this.
You need to learn to trust yourself. You need to learn how to defend yourself and become more independent. These projects are not necessarily going to teach you how to do that.
And just to clarify, I’m not trying to act like I’m God, like you should trust only me, or like I’m some kind of deity. I’m not asking you to replace one organization with me.
I’m saying this because this is what I wish somebody had told me while I was growing up.
I know there are people in this world who feel the way sixteen-year-old me felt. There are probably people who feel like twenty-seven-year-old me still feels sometimes and need somebody to tell them, “Hey, it’s okay if you see things differently.”
Again, I don’t want to be a preacher. I’m here to say the things that matter to me because, guess what? This is part of the North Node in Leo that I want to grow into as I grow away from my Aquarius South Node.
And this is why I keep telling you guys to back up your work offline.
First of all, do you seriously want to forget what you’ve made? Human memory can fail. The internet is not going to look the same in the next four years.
Most likely, you’ll eventually have to pay a fucking membership fee simply to access your childhood memories, just like you’re already being asked to pay for extra storage on your MEGA.nz account, Google Drive, or whatever else.
You’re already being asked to pay memberships to access certain things offline, which is fucked up, as we all know.
So, literally, start backing up your things offline. Start creating offline archives.
And yeah, that’s why I keep teaching you guys these things. No one else is going to tell you that.
Everyone is going to tell you to sign this petition or attend that protest, but no one is going to tell you to do the quiet work too. Life rewards the loudest people, the lions, the Leo Suns, and the Leo Risings. It doesn’t reward the people with a twelfth-house Sun, Moon, Saturn, and whatnot.
Nobody rewards these quiet, invisible efforts, and there isn’t much we can do about it.
But seriously, okay, that’s pretty much all I wanted to say.
Again, I know this is probably controversial, and I didn’t want to sound preachy or overly religious.
You don’t have to believe in God. But if you believe in any kind of higher power, remember that you and that higher power both know what you’ve done, good and bad, what you’ve made, and what you’ve said.