We were sent a few examples this week of something that is both deeply funny and, given the time and the context, deeply predictable as well.
Our 'Destroy AI' t-shirt, released last month, was the result of a collaboration between human beings. The only machines involved were our personal computers (Kim, the artist, lives in Germany, so we had to electronically mail her our design ideas), and I guess a few at our merch providers, who had to print and then mail the shirts. That's it!
The proceeds of this shirt are split between us, a website run by humans, and Kim, an artist who is also a human. If you buy the shirt from us, the people who actually made the shirt, you're directly supporting us both, and that's great! If you buy the shirt anywhere else, you're being scammed.
A quick google search for "Destroy AI shirt" will eventually bring up our own listing, sure, but it also brings up results for scores of the same design on skeevy bootleg websites, the kind who have used Twitter bots and other nefarious tactics to find, replicate then try to mooch off Kim’s work.
I have no idea how many people have actually bought a shirt from these places, if any, but the fact our design briefly surfaced outside our regular ecosystem of readers and fans (through stuff like social sharing), and that these sites are selling the design in a huge variety of colours and even on other items (like hoodies) makes me curious.
I'm not going to link any of them, but I do want to talk about one in particular, which in the process of using some kind of bot to scrape the work also used AI to generate an explainer text for...our shirt that wants to destroy AI:
The Destroy AI Shirt isn’t just a piece of clothing; it’s a statement. Designed for those who dare to challenge the growing power of artificial intelligence, this shirt features a dynamic graphic of a character holding a weapon, dismantling a robot. The message is clear: a call for independence from the digital world, where humans regain control over technology. This graphic design draws inspiration from movements that critique the excessive reliance on AI and emphasize the need for balance between technology and humanity.
"Balance"? Buddy, I would launch a Butlerian Jihad tomorrow if my income didn't rely on a website.
Remember, we've only got one merch store, and it's this one! And while we're on the subject of merch, please know that we put a lot of thought and work into our range; while these pirate sites will be selling you terrible bootleg prints on the most dogshit shirts, we made sure all our shirts (and hoodies) are supplied by AS Colour, and that the prints themselves are also as good as they can be.
