Makers Can Use A.I. As Much As They Want
Corporate balancing of A.I. vs. human creativity doesn't impact the maker movement
Welcome to the latest issue of Decent Tuesdays, an experimental edition of The Main Street Journal that covers and connects the many aspects of decentralization.
Today’s Making article, from Inc., asks what happened to the maker movement of the early 2000s. It observes that A.I. now also democratizes creativity, and explores whether there might be a conflict between the two. It’s an interesting article, but less for its central question, I think, than for the examples it reports on and its underlying view of the maker movement.
The article starts by arguing that innovation in physical products is hindered by over-reliance on digital tools. People need to work hands-on with materials and prototypes, and make discoveries through physical experimentation. Right on. In contrast, the article points to a software company’s new AI Hub, a facility dedicated to in-person collaboration on software, and calls it a “technology-enabled maker space,” although it lacks physical tools and materials.
It’s an odd comparison, but the contrast does lead to a valid synthesis: The human-powered maker movement is still thriving, and makers should incorporate A.I. and other advanced tech as tools within their process. F’rinstance, start with a handmade physical prototype, use A.I. to iterate and refine the design, and then validate it with hands-on human testing.
But the article is from Inc., so it only covers the corporate side of makerdom and makerspaces. That’s valid, but misses the full picture because 1) the maker movement was and is primarily grassroots and independent, not a management trend, and 2) people’s motivations are different at work vs. on their own time.
During the first years of the maker movement, I had the good fortune to work for MAKE magazine, which coined the terms “maker” and “makerspace,” created the Maker Faire events, and acted as the voice of the movement. MAKE celebrated, amplified, informed, gathered, and probably named the maker movement, but it was already happening with or without us, driven by hobbyists and enthusiasts everywhere. (Also, to correct the article, it started before desktop 3D printing.)
Tech companies soon noticed the trend and adopted it top-down, by creating in-house makerspaces as a way to appeal to smart, creative, job-seeking techies and keep them happy and engaged at work. I think that’s all healthy and positive, and not just corporate coolwashing, but the corporate setting was never the center of the maker movement. It was people making things on their own, whether they were students, straight-arrow weekend tinkerers and home-improvers, or rebel pranksters and Burning Man types making things like DIY flamethrowers.
Which brings up the second point, captured by MAKE’s original subtitle, “Technology on your time.” MAKE has many readers who work for tech companies, but it’s for when they want to apply their skills and mindset to their own creative projects, where the motivations are different.
As the Inc. article describes, the question with A.I. at a company makerspace is how to use it most effectively to create successful new products. For a maker at home, this is likely irrelevant. It’s up to them whether they’re trying to create a successful product, building skills, playing around, seeing what kinds of things they can create with A.I., or making something that they’ll proudly label “Not by AI” or “100% Human Made.” A.I. is just another tool and medium to learn and get a feel for if you want to, like photographers do with cameras and lenses, or potters do with wheels and clay.
These different motivations are reflected in the eternal, usually-healthy tech company tension between the geeks, who want to do the most interesting things, and management, who want whatever-it-is to make the most money.
Swap out “interesting” for “ethical” in the previous sentence, and a similar split is reflected in the new ICEout.tech petition, as covered by the New York Times: As Tech Chiefs Woo Trump, Silicon Valley Seethes Over Minneapolis Shootings. If ICE were similarly deployed here, where I live, I wouldn’t be surprised if local Burning Man makers use their DIY flamethrowers and other fire devices as tools of resistance. If so, I hope they do so dramatically, but not destructively, and without harming anyone, because that would not help.
Image Credit: Chive Cream Cheese, via Wikimedia Commons
NEWS
MAKING
Whatever Happened to the Maker Movement? Inc. (November 8)
A.I. tools have a place in company makerspaces (discussed above).
FINANCE
Seedbanking as a Financial Practice, The People’s Practice (January 13)
Seedbanking, saving seeds for future generations, applies to finance. Diné (Navajo) creation stories describe leaving what longer serves us and walking into a better world, like shifting from mainstream, predatory banks to local, relationship-based lending that’s led by those who are closest to the pain, and the power.
MEDIA
Reviving Gourmet Magazine as a Worker-Owned Publication, The Guardian (January 18)
Five food writer fans of the print magazine Gourmet, which folded in 2009, noticed that its trademark had lapsed. They relaunched the brand themselves as an employee-owned online publication, joining a growing number of independent journalism co-ops.
FARMING
Beyond the Plantation Economy, Nonprofit Quarterly (January 7)
Alabama’s slavery-era plantation economy survives in the state’s extractive mega-factories and prison workshops. But agriculture co-ops like the East Alabama Black Belt Farmers’ Cooperative and Southeastern Goat Cooperative are thriving, following a model that keeps profits and management local while spreading expertise.
ENERGY
How Electric Co-ops Are Developing Energy Storage Capacity, Co-op News (January 22)
Electricity co-ops in the U.S. are adding battery systems to store and manage energy from solar and other renewable sources. Georgia’s Snapping Shoals EMC is installing Vanadium flow batteries, which last for decades and let you expand energy capacity by adding more liquid electrolyte. The system is configured to power critical facilities during outages.
HEALTH
How Hamburg Combats Loneliness With Social Medicine, Reason to Be Cheerful (January 15)
A nonprofit in Hamburg pairs teens with the elderly to attend cultural events together, like performances and exhibitions, free of charge. Participating teens attend a training that includes navigating the city while wearing a 77-pound “aging simulation suit” that restricts movement and vision. Participants love it and make great connections.
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