alt Hacker NewsWe do not value things made by humans.
Hand-made anything tends to be a Veblen good, which means it's there to signal status, which means it's expensive.
But expensive doesn't work in mass-media. So a hand-drawn anime isn't going to be more profitable than an AI-animated one.
As for education - possibly, but this is the end of a process that started with digitalisation. I'm a huge fan of hand-drawn pre-Illustrator graphic design, especially 1960s-80s. I think it has a liveliness and freshness that post-Adobe design is missing.
But I'm not the usual audience, almost no trained designers can hand-draw lettering today, and neither the industry nor buyers/consumers seem to care.
Likely the same thing will happen with AI. It will just become the new normal, with skills to match.
Replies
> We do not value things made by humans. Hand-made anything tends to be a Veblen good, which means it's there to signal status, which means it's expensive.
I read this as we do value things made by humans, we just don't incentivize the mass market to prioritize handmade things
> We do not value things made by humans.
There are plenty of people who do. A minority perhaps, but your absolute statement is wrong.
> Hand-made anything tends to be a Veblen good, which means it's there to signal status, which means it's expensive.
Many people don't give a shit about status signaling, but do care about supporting people and their craft. Some folks have a a niche making something by hand, but far removed from the concept of Veblen goods.
The world isn't as flat as you're making it out to be.