• @[email protected]
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    7518 hours ago

    Training the models is very resource intensive, but after that it’s basically fine. I can run Midjourney image generation on my modest gaming laptop. Takes maybe 30 seconds for a high-resolution image at a laptop’s “gaming mode” power consumption.

    AI image generation is comparable in electric use to e.g. playing Valheim or Elden Ring.

    It’s when it’s scaled up industrially that it becomes a huge waste of electricity. Me playing Valhelm for 5 minutes is nothing. My startup creating 20000 bots playing Valheim 24/7 is a problem for society.

    • @[email protected]
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      11217 hours ago

      It’s the mining of diamonds that kills all the children. After the diamond is mined, I can use it with almost no child deaths. Diamonds are fine.

      • @[email protected]
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        2110 hours ago

        No, using an already-trained model doesn’t “use up” the model in exactly the same way that pirating a movie doesn’t steal anything from Hollywood.

        • @[email protected]
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          31 hour ago

          Use a diamond doesn’t “use up” that diamond.

          And yet, it’s still unethical to buy already mined blood diamonds from people who continue to mine more blood diamonds. Funny thing about that, huh

          • @[email protected]
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            417 minutes ago

            In this analogy, using the diamond does use it up. In the sense that none else can use that diamond concurrently. If someone else wants a diamond, more children must die.

            This is different from the trained AI model, which can concurrently be used by everyone at the same time, at very little extra cost.

      • @[email protected]
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        2215 hours ago

        I mean yeah: if we went and killed every person who benefits from conflict diamonds and closed all blood diamond mines why wouldn’t you be cool with using the resources? Their evil origin has little to do with their practical utility and if the original sin is expiated there’s no reason not to?

        Like yeah conflict diamonds have basically no purpose because we can make diamonds cheaper and better in labs but in a situation where there are more practical uses (cobalt, LLMs) once we cleanse the land of the sinners why wouldn’t we use their ill gotten gains for good?

        • @[email protected]
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          1 hour ago

          But we’re not “killing” every person who benefits, literally or figuratively. We’re continuing to buy their diamonds (pay them in money and data) while they continue to mine (train new models, use copyrighted material).

        • queermunist she/her
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          8 hours ago

          Do the concepts “reparations” or “compensation for loss and damage” mean anything to you?

          The people who were exploited should be the ones to benefit from those diamonds.

            • queermunist she/her
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              16 hours ago

              Sounds like you think we should use the diamonds. I wouldn’t be cool with using those diamonds because they belong to the people who were forced to mine them, not me.

      • @[email protected]
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        815 hours ago

        I see your point and agree with it, but I believe you read more defense in my comment than I tried to put in.

        I’m not in favor of this waste.

    • The Octonaut
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      1117 hours ago

      Is Midjourney available for use locally now? Or have you misunderstood Midjourney taking 30 seconds to generate from their server as happening locally?

      • @[email protected]
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        1217 hours ago

        I know a guy that uses Stable Diffusion XL locally with a few LORAs, last time I’ve heard one 2k image took 2 minutes on RTX 30 or 40 something

        IDK how expensive is Midjourney in comparison, but running it locally doesn’t sound impossible