Before I dive into this subject, let me just state that I’m not naive to the fact that AI is hidden into searches, websites, professional services and more. I’m fully aware that I’m using AI, likely daily, without even realizing it. This post is not about the legitimate uses of AI. This is about the nonsense and lazy uses of AI which are actually hurting businesses as well as contributing to an inferior quality of content overall.

So let’s get into this. About 6 weeks ago(early March) I was scrolling my FB feed late one evening. An ad popped up for a vintage market about 3 hours away from me. I was interested in the market, but the ad itself put me off. And immediately I realized it was because the ad was AI generated. Over-produced, lots of words and information and busy.

It was within days that my feed seemed to explode with the identical ad or near to identical. But they were all different events. After about 2 weeks, I was seeing ads for auctions, events, markets, rodeos, and more all with the exact same composition, style, colouring. BUSY. REPETITIVE. UGLY.

It honestly made me feel just a level of exhaustion and frustration. Why?

Because the premise of this easy-to-do, super intelligent way of promoting events(intelligent said with air quotes and eye rolls) is actually making me not want to support those pages, businesses and events.

The exact reason to promote your market and event is to engage new people and encourage a level of excitement but AI generated posters and ads are actually lacking engagement and trust and therefore bringing in less views, less shares and ultimately less people.

 

I get the draw. We are all busy. It is time consuming to use a computer program to plug in your fonts and style to get a marketable poster. I totally understand the desire for drive-thru marketing. But this is not the way to be authentic.  The world is full of repetitive stuff vying for our attention. It is hard to stand out.

I’m a vintage seller. I don’t have a big budget for anything. But I’m passionate about small businesses and I’m passionate about the good things we used to have that are still worth having and saving. So for me, that means holding onto the actual, physical people doing the work of graphic design , website building, social media marketing and video editing. Real people doing this work are worth their weight in gold. They are the creativity we need. They are the connection between the business and the customer. They are real. And they are struggling right now. I’m so thankful that I have Mountain Thirteen Media helping me when I need help with all of it.

This is not just about promoting graphic designers though. This is about the artists, the calligraphists, the hand painters, the photographers, the sign makers, the videographers and all of the other creatives who have led us to this point. You see AI isn’t anything without all of those who have gone before. AI is skimming the very top of the internet for something close to what you’re looking for and then it spits it out. You like it. You use it.  And the next guy to come along and ask AI to do a similar poster is going to get almost the same thing because AI isn’t really that intelligent. In this context, AI is lazy. AI isn’t working that hard for you. AI is giving you good enough in a short enough time frame that you’re happy enough to not pay anything for it.

Except you are paying for it. And so am I. We are paying dearly. Currently there are 3 large data centres being planned or proposed in the countryside near the cities of my family and friends. And that’s just the ones I know about in Alberta and Saskatchewan. We will lose farmland, forest, rivers, ponds, peace and quiet because people just want a flashy avatar as their profile picture, posters for their business and advertisement for their products.  We all pay the price.

So for this year, this season of my life and for the purpose of me drawing a line in the sand, I’ve committed to an analog year as much as I’m able to do.  That means hand written posters, hand drawn ads, hand painted signs, cash only sales, no AI videos/pictures, ads, avatars or posts of any kind. I refuse to be part of the problem but strive to be a part of the tide turning. Market vendors this year will also have to commit to not using AI in their ad promotions of my events or they will have their applications rescinded.  Does that sound harsh? I don’t think so.

We are in the country for a reason. We love our way of life. It’s about simpler, using what’s always worked, fixing what needs fixing and not buying into all the new, fancy, shiny stuff.

We are country.  There’s hay in our hair, mud on our boots.

We have rust on our pick ups, dirt under our fingernails.

We like vinyl records and AM radio

And we aren’t going anywhere.