As content created by artificial intelligence is being churned out, the value of the hand- or human-made will only increase
In Jakob Martin Strid‘s latest book ‘The Fantastic Bus’, there is a small but very interesting detail in the colophon.
“No AI or digital painting tools were used in the making of this book. Everything by hand. Everything on paper,” it says with beautiful writing and beautiful drawings like the rest of the critically acclaimed book.
It was the Danish Consumer Council’s Head of Policy Uffe Rabe Krag, who drew attention to this on his LinkedIn, where he points out that we will see many more disclaimers like this.
I completely agree with that. With such a promise, Jakob Martin Strid states that his work is original and authentic, based on human creativity. Unlike artificially created products that are prompted via opaque and non-transparent services controlled by global tech companies.
The EU is about to introduce a new law on artificial intelligence, an AI Act, that requires the use of artificial intelligence to be clearly labeled so that we humans are in no doubt whether we are interacting with a machine or a human. But we should also do the opposite, as Jens Martin Strid suggests here. Human-generated content will soon be in the minority on the web. Several experts estimate that by 2026, the vast majority of content on the web will be synthetically generated. Synthetic content is generated or manipulated using artificial intelligence.
Artificial Anchors
Many organisations are experimenting with content created by artificial intelligence, known as generative AI. In the United States, a new video channel will be launched this year using generative AI. All of the channel’s anchors look like humans but are digital avatars, and the recipient can decide what language they should speak in. These artificial hosts are advanced versions of Bridget, which Bornholm.nu used at one point. Chanel1.ai is the name of the new channel, where you can get a taste of the human-like anchors of different skin colour, gender and age – some even sweating slightly and with ageing skin. The channel emphasises that human journalists will be hired to ensure the credibility of the content.
Many of us will probably come to value human-generated content. According to media analyst Jan Birkemose, real human beings will become an important selling point when it comes to e.g. media content, because humans simply prefer human content:
“Good journalists are people that media users can feel and relate to. They are professionals with ethics, experience, empathy and the ability to deliver credible and relevant stories time and time again,” Birkemose writes in his newsletter.
organic food and sustainable wood, we may in the future also have a labeling scheme that guarantees the man-made.
In fact, an American designer created a label last year: ‘Written/Created/Painted by human. Not by AI,’ it says next to a smiley face. It’s available in all languages and free for non-commercial use. Initially, however, I think we’ll just see more and more people follow the lead of best-selling author Jakob Martin Strid and self-declare what is created by humans.
Illustration: Screen-dump from Channel1.ai
This column was – in part – first published in the Danish daily Politiken
