Against Enshittification

Everything feels all crappy and AI-generated. Here's something that's definitely handmade.

I bet you've heard this latest buzzword. And it's a good one! Cory Doctorow coined the term “enshittification” in 2022 to describe how so many platforms, pushing profits to their limits, allow their content to degrade and devolve in quality until there's nothing to truly engage with intellectually.

And now, the overwhelming use of AI in creating content is enshittifying everything from Facebook posts to Substack articles; from viral videos to TV and movies.

It's overwhelming.

At God of the Desert, we feel that AI has its advantages, but we also believe that AI must not create content on its own which is presented as the work of a human.

Because, well, you can just tell, can't you? You can tell what's authentically human and what came straight from the ChatGPT app to the Substack app—no human intervention required.

Where the hell is any sign of some authenticity?! We need it—badly.

To make that point, I made you the post below! I really made it—I wrote it on paper, I decorated it. It took hours. And now I'm publishing it, imperfections and all.

And if it looks like a disabled person created it, well, she sure did - and she had a blast: