In a previous article, I warned that church media would start using AI in their music and art. The article scolded AI for being effortless and lazy in a setting where we give our best.

Now I need to backtrack a little. There are still valid reasons to stay away from AI-generated content (hurts the environment, lowers IQ, addictive), but AI also exposes a blind spot in the hustle and bustle of the world. Do you want to know what it is?

AI can’t say no to you. AI can’t take an assignment and later decide they are too busy to complete it. AI can’t forget the task you asked it to do last week. AI has the community beaten at that game. As an artist and a writer, I rely on an extra set of eyes to edit my work. My projects suffer greatly without the community’s involvement.

But what happens when all my friends are too busy to review my manuscript? What about that friend who tells me during the week that they no longer feel like designing a book cover? I either have to gamble on my own skills or go to a service that never sleeps, asks for payment, or rejects me.

That is why every moral argument about AI never sticks. A very smart computer offers to hold your hand through the writing, marketing, publishing, and creation process, and it gets smarter every day, and we are expected to disregard it. But that begs the question, where do we go back to? The community has full-time jobs, priorities, and families, so they can’t fill the void AI creates.

This is not a diss to our community. Their limitations are perfectly reasonable and realistic. Even I can’t offer my services to content producers when and how they want. It’s like this. Imagine if someone gifted you a butler who swears on his life to manage your finances, clean your house, and review your business. He is a lifesaver. Then I tell you that this butler steals music, dumps poison on grass, and gets kids hooked on drugs in his off hours. It would be well within reason to drop this butler for ethical reasons. People have been fired for much less.

But if you did get rid of him, you would need to slow your business to a crawl, let your house get messy, and learn to manage your finances by yourself. Or you could hire a professional for each position for triple the price of the magical butler. Suddenly, the butler’s crimes don’t seem all that bad compared to you being left high and dry.

There’s no easy answer. We can’t force our friends and family to help us (I tried and it didn’t work). Our only hope is that someone comes up with a more ethical AI system or we make communities that can compete.

What do you think?

Also, check out my review of the AI horror movie AfrAId.