There’s power in symbols, and technological practices also count as metaphors.
When I first heard the above news item (filed under yet another horrifying action by AI companies), it reminded me of Vernor Vinge's 2006 novel Rainbow's End. I remember thinking what a wild imagination Vinge had. And now it horrifies me to see that the will to cultural destruction has embraced such an emphatic and violent method of self-expression.
News like this is one small reason why your principled, passionate work with creative communication matters.
I don’t mean to diminish writing or editing by implying they are merely useful as defensive responses to destruction. That would be giving destruction and its peddlers too much credit. No, writing is so much more than that.
But one of the powers of our conscious, compassionate efforts to express ourselves (and help one another to do so) with sincerity and curiosity is that by its very nature it stands against destruction and decay. You revive and reinforce what is good simply by showing up each day to work with words.
Thank you for that, my fellow creatives.