Going Analog
A lot has changed, since the last time I posted anything on my website. AI has run amuck and seeped into everything. I had high hopes for it at one time. It was a great way to suss out ideas, either in words, or visually. That has all changed though. It's oozing out of every digital device and application.
As Cory Doctorow, the author of "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It", has been known to say, “AI is the asbestos we are shoveling into the walls of our society and our descendants will be digging it out for generations.”
Now, in my late 50s, another year older, (and 70 pounds lighter), I've come to see a lot of things in the world change. I remember John Lennon being murdered, the AIDS epidemic, 9-11, crazy POTUS choices and COVID. I remember the VIC-20 the Commodore-64, the Macintosh, the iPod and the iPad.
But, somewhere around 2008, the American empire started circling the drain. Having a black president was the tipping point for so many that they just lost their racist minds and went full-on fascist. Conspiracies became lethal and were no longer just about cute, little harmless things like Nessie, UFOs, lizard people, the Illuminati and Sasquatch. People's lives were upended or worse as a direct result of shit like Qanon.
The world has become "enshittified". We are living in the "Enshittocene". A lot of this happened in an analog way during the COVID crisis. People realized that life was more important than meaningless jobs and shitty pay. Their eyes were opened. The cat was out of the bag, and it was never going back in. Corporations have realized too that employees don't like the way they're paid and treated. Their hearts aren't into a futile minimum wage job anymore. As a result, employees just don't care.
"Nobody wants to work anymore!" the employers exclaim. No, "Nobody wants to work a shit job for shit wages anymore." is more like it.
Employers are suffering, and AI has come along in the just the right moment to help. If they were really smart, they'd replace the people at the top first. Cut a company's spending by a few billion by axing a CEO.
Thus AI is now available to everyone. You can create music, images, videos and graphics with a few words and a click of mouse. People don't want to pay a graphic designer when they can use ChatGPT fairly unlimited for a month for $20 and choose from tons of supposedly unique logos, and assume their are no copyright issues, printing issues or sizing issues.
This brings me to this moment. This is the only place you'll find me. I no longer do social media. All of my "Rolling Rook" online accounts have been deleted or disabled. I'm no longer wasting time on creating content for others to monetize. I have not had a proper social media account in a few years, thus, I cannot see other social media accounts.
This is the only place you'll find me, and things are bound to change. My focus will no longer be on the digital, but the analog. Going forward, Rolling Rook Studio, will be providing all work via physical medium only. That's pen on paper, paint on canvas, images in print, etc.
We're going old school, baby! Welcome to the wonderful world of analog!
