Angry Artists and Teachers Want to Ban AI — What’s Next?

I'll never understand our society’s obsession with banning content it deems “inappropriate” by whatever metric is popular that day. 

If I don’t like something, I employ the tried-and-true method of simply refusing to give it my attention. So far, this has worked well for me. 

But then again, I’m not an artist who's worked his entire life to perfect a craft only to watch it be taken over by a soulless computer program. 

Generative AI, the kind that seemingly creates something from nothing, does exactly that. And now that the hype has subsided a bit, more and more content creators are calling to ban AI-produced art and save the humans. 

And while most of this concern is overblown, it points to a key fact about AI that nobody seems to realize yet.

Critics might compare this movement with the Luddites, a group of early technophobes who claimed the Industrial Revolution would essentially destroy what it means to be human. 

History looks back on them less than fondly, but these people were practically prophets. 

The Industrial Revolution might have made work easier, but it ultimately kicked off an era of wealth inequality unlike anything humanity could’ve imagined. 

Labor and capital became increasingly separate. Wealth investors made money hand over fist, middle management became factory owners, and workers became something akin to modern serfs. 

This is the future artists are afraid of. It’s also the future teachers fear will result from little Johnny using ChatGPT to write his book report on Davy Crockett. 

So what do you think? Is this legitimate fear, or is it just another generation of Luddites fearing what will ultimately make their lives better? 

Personally, I'm in the camp of “better” — and not just because of these AI novelty acts. 

The Most Important Factor of AI? Progress

Much to my disappointment, you can’t invest in ChatGPT or DALL-E or Midjourney or any of the cool new AI toys that have burst onto the mainstream.

For now, the architects behind the AI movement have been mostly private entities. You could sink some money into Google as a token thank-you for letting the industry use its vast reserves of training data, but that won’t take you very far. 

Like with any sweeping tech wave, the peripherals are the real moneymakers. In simpler terms, there are a few pieces of hardware that this AI software needs to flex its full power. 

Let’s take a quick look at one of the most promising future uses for AI — namely, interactive voice assistants. Amazon’s Alexa was a worthy entry to the space years ago when there were no other options but has since failed to upgrade. 

Alexa’s only capabilities remain limited to turning off lights and setting basic reminders, not to mention constantly misunderstanding you and speaking out of turn, prompting a torrent of expletives from its users (or perhaps that’s just me). 

But imagine if the interaction were more natural. If Alexa’s comparatively tiny brain got an AI boost, it could engage with users on a much more conversational level like Bing’s questionably sentient AI chatbot. 

Whether that sounds amazing or terrifying to you, it’s the type of future we are on a collision course with. And although the software is powerful, it will take some incredibly specialized hardware to make it work. 

Very rarely do we get such advance notice about an upcoming tech shift. For once, the everyday investor has time to see the writing on the wall and plan accordingly. 

In practical terms, that means investing in the hardware makers that will unlock AI’s full potential. And if you ask me, that potential is utterly limitless. 

When the iPhone hit the scenes, hundreds of tiny companies received bigger deals than ever. Some suppliers are almost completely propped up by Apple’s sprawling supply chain needs. 

When Alexa hit the market, advanced microphone manufacturers scrambled to build the systems needed for her to hear your instructions from across a crowded room. 

Now, a fully functional AI assistant will need all of that and more.

It will require far more computing power than the iPhone, a much better microphone than Alexa, and possibly even cameras/virtual reality support that rivals even the best headsets on the market. 

It’s a hardware bonanza that could shift billions if not trillions of dollars' worth of capital into a few well-timed investors’ pockets. 

Get your piece of it here before it becomes just another footnote in history and your profits end up in someone else’s bank account.

To your wealth,

Luke Sweeney
Contributor, Energy and Capital

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Luke’s technical know-how combined with an insatiable scientific curiosity has helped uncover some of our most promising leads in the tech sector. He has a knack for breaking down complicated scientific concepts into an easy-to-digest format, while still keeping a sharp focus on the core information. His role at Angel is simple: transform piles of obscure data into profitable investment leads. When following our recommendations, rest assured that a truly exhaustive amount of research goes on behind the scenes..