ai-nxiety
the corpse of creativity: dressed in unity & drained of soul
every few weeks since i was a teenager, i’ve suffer from a severe case of k-pop brainworms. it usually starts when an old favorite song pops up while scrolling social media and refuses to let go until i’ve binged my kpop playlist, rewatched music videos, and revisited a few live stages. k-pop has always excelled at creating portals to other universes, weaving together music, visuals, and storytelling in ways the american music industry rarely matches anymore.
this latest case started after i stumbled on an interview with grimes and æspa, one of my favorite recent k-pop finds. their conversation about the role of technology in creating their music fascinated me. grimes approaches it from a experimental, almost philosophical angle, while aespa’s journey is rooted in a desire to connect with their fans with their metaverse-inspired avatars that debuted during the lockdown era. since restrictions have lifted, aespa have begun exploring ways to connect with the real world, blending the virtual and physical like a seamless choreography.
but their conversation also sparked a deeper thought: while technology opens exciting doors for creativity and connection, it also casts a shadow of unease. it’s not just about music or virtual avatars — it’s about the larger questions technology raises about our future. nowhere is this tension more apparent than in the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, which brings with it significant risks, such as energy consumption, ethical and privacy concerns.
isolate you and me so that we can’t see ahead. the algorithms that have been distorted by bad desires.
ai is hungry. models like chatgpt and gpt-4 guzzle resources — not just electricity but staggering amounts of water to keep their servers from overheating. training gpt-3 reportedly consumed around 5.4 million liters of water. just a handful of prompts can use the same amount of water as filling a 500ml bottle. microsoft saw its water usage spike 34% in a year, reaching 1.7 billion gallons, while google’s water use climbed 20% in the same period. globally, data centers are projected to consume as much electricity by 2026 as japan uses in a year. this insatiable demand for energy and water isn’t just an inconvenient side effect; it’s a looming crisis. with resources already stretched thin, can we afford to let ai grow unchecked at this rate?
source: More Perfect Union’s youtube
then there’s the question of fairness. dr. joy buolamwini’s debut book unmasking ai exposed just how imbued with bias these systems can be. during her time at mit, she noted just how bad facial recognition technology is at identifying women and people of color. this failure has life-altering consequences. for example, every single case of someone being wrongfully arrested because of facial recognition has involved a black individual. detroit police even admitted that their system is wrong 96% of the time when used alone. these algorithms don’t just make mistakes — they replicate and amplify systemic issues that already exist. it’s not just a bug in the system; it’s the system itself.
and what about your privacy? twitter recently decided to rope all its users into training its ai tool, grok, without asking for explicit consent. they say the data is anonymized, but users weren’t even given the option to opt out. it’s a stark reminder of how easily companies can prioritize ai development over your right to control your personal information. this move sets a troubling precedent. if other platforms follow suit, our data could become just another fuel source for the ai engine, harvested without transparency or accountability. the stakes aren’t just technical—they’re deeply personal.
ai promises us convenience, creativity, and connection — but at what cost? it siphons our planet’s resources, codifies human biases into unyielding algorithms, strips away our privacy in ways most of us don’t even notice, leaving behind an overreliance to a technology stripping us of human agency. we’re not just creating tools; we’re birthing systems that could outpace our ability to control them. if ai’s rise goes unchecked, the price won’t just be paid in water or energy—it’ll be paid in trust, equality, and the very essence of what makes us human. the future is still in our hands, but for how much longer?
this one’s been sitting in my drafts for a while. i’m honestly relieved to have finally found the right words to bring these thoughts to life.
i’ve also officially put down roots in los angeles — been writing up some code on an exciting project with warner music group. can’t wait to share more soon!
thanks for sticking with me 🤍 nae
sources:
as use of a.i. soars, so does the energy and water it requires
making a.i. less “thirsty”: uncovering and addressing the secret water footprint of a.i. models