AI

I was on Instagram looking for some music to add to a short cruise related reel I wanted to post this morning when I found a song that made me stop completely as I listened in because of how the lyrics spoke to me.

So setting aside the reel I was working on, I opened my folder of 2025 highlights and more than hour disappeared as I started to put together a year in review reel using that song.  I was so excited for how the reel was turning out.

And then something made me look up the artist because it was one I had never heard of before, only to discover it is completely AI generated.  And now I'm just disgusted.

As someone who deeply values the creative work of others and strives to be mindful of the natural resources I use, I can't support generative AI.  It is based on stolen work.  It demands an insane amount of electricity and water to create.  And the more we as humans depend on AI to think for us, the less we will be able to think for ourselves.

It bothers me greatly how social media and the internet is getting flooded with this shit without any checks or controls.  I can't even trust the content I consume anymore unless it is an account I know well, and even then I have to be careful.

So I'm angry I was fooled temporarily but it will teach me in the future to look up artists before I get too involved in using a new song.  

That said, I really had a beautiful 2025.  And when I find the right song, this year's year in review reel may top any other year in review I have ever done.