Is the comic dead?

[Nemo]

Its a difference of language and perspective.

If Force is tantamount to Cause in 'cause and effect' then yes. That is a natural 'force'. However, force carries a distinct connotation that implies deprivation of will. I can be 'forced' to turn over my wallet after being beaten into submission. Being compelled to do a thing deprives a person of what we tend to view as a Natural Right - Liberty.

Can you have the Natural Right of Liberty without also the Natural Right of Life? Or is Life the wellspring of Liberty? If Liberty follows from Life then one is not forcibly compelled into existence as without Life one has no Liberty to override. This fundamental difference in view affects, and reflects, the perspective one has on Life itself. If it is a boon and a blessing to have Life it is also a boon and a blessing to grant it. Granting, or gifting, Life does not carry the inherent negative connotations that coercing life into existence does.

Either 'grant' or 'force' can be the "Cause" in effect - it is simply a matter of which connotation one wishes to place on the act.

[boldilocks]

Even a fruit tree planted by a farmer is not forced into the world, because the farmer had no intention of bringing into the world any specific tree. He planted a seed and a tree grew from it.

As a gardener I highly disagree with this.

I pick a type of seed out of thousands of options, most of which will never be planted and after a time become nonviable.
I winnow those seeds for possible non viable examples.
I then plants those seeds in a starter with food, warmth, moisture and most if not all of them sprout.
I thin those aggressively looking for the best plants to permit to grow to maturity.
And then transplant them into the soil.

I provide optimal conditions for plants to sprout and they are compelled to sprout if their needs fit those conditions or they were non viable. I basically force them to grow.

But ultimately it's seeds that you choose and not any particular tree.

[G. Janssen]

Let's look at it logically.
-First thing babies do after they are born is cry.
-People cry when they experience pain, distress and/or grief.
-Ergo: babies experience pain, distress and/or grief when born.
-This means that being born is a traumatic experience.
-Exposing babies to traumatic experiences is child abuse, a violation of human rights.
Conclusion: birthing a baby is a human rights violation.

You are probably thinking that I'm joking. I'm not. I would never joke about something as serious as baby birth torture.

Here's another example:
-What do babies do all day for many months? They poop, pee and cry.
-People crap and piss themselves when they experience intense fear.
-This means that babies are literally scared shitless every day.
-Which means that existence in the world is pure horror to them.

So yes, babies are definitely forced into the world with the intent to have them mentally tortured. The medics that deliver them violate their hippocratic oath with each birth. A baby's forced birth is a sadistic act of child abuse (quite possibly satanic in nature) and a violation of human rights.

And don't get me started on gardening... Those poor plants!

[Nemo]

So yes, babies are definitely forced into the world with the intent to have them mentally tortured. The medics that deliver them violate their hippocratic oath with each birth. A baby's forced birth is a sadistic act of child abuse (quite possibly satanic in nature) and a violation of human rights.

And don't get me started on gardening... Those poor plants!

That's awful, terrible, heart-wrenching... There is an immediate moral imperative to prevent such tragedies! Post-Natal Abortion up to any term for any person capable of such an atrocity. We must end the cycle of violence now!

[Voitan]

And this is why giving an AI control to act/censor on things that "Harm" can spiral out of control.

[DevilDalek]

So, how we all doing?

[Demarquis]

"And this is why giving an AI control to act/censor on things that "Harm" can spiral out of control."

I actually dont think so. Either an AI is too simple to understand concepts like "context" or "exceptions", in which case it won't be able to follow an ambiguous instruction like "prevent harm"; or else it is sophisticated enough to follow such a subjectively defined concept, in which case it could also understand context-dependent exceptions, and isn't any more likely to turn into a paperclip maximizer than an ordinary human would.

[Keklas Rekobah]

I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the webcomic.

[spacewhale]

"I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the webcomic."
Wait till Homeworld 3 comes out, sucka! *Adagio for Strings intensifies*

[Cthulhu]

This hiatus does have a new, rather unsettling quality to it. The newest page here is 218, which was posted on Patreon more than a year ago. Then, we have 26 half-finished pages behind a paywall. Will they ever be finished? When will they appear here? Only time can tell.

[spacewhale]

*shrugs* Probably just something fierce doing backgrounds for a certain location.

[G. Janssen]

This hiatus does have a new, rather unsettling quality to it. The newest page here is 218, which was posted on Patreon more than a year ago. Then, we have 26 half-finished pages behind a paywall. Will they ever be finished? When will they appear here? Only time can tell.

You know, with all the money that we patrons spend every month, we could hire an artist who would actually fini... Oh hi, Arioch. Why are you holding a chair over your head? Why are you looking at me like that?

[Bamax]

This hiatus does have a new, rather unsettling quality to it. The newest page here is 218, which was posted on Patreon more than a year ago. Then, we have 26 half-finished pages behind a paywall. Will they ever be finished? When will they appear here? Only time can tell.

You know, with all the money that we patrons spend every month, we could hire an artist who would actually fini... Oh hi, Arioch. Why are you holding a chair over your head? Why are you looking at me like that?

Not gonna lie... you made me laugh outloud literally.


That said, I honestly think if an AI were programmed off Arioch's art, they could do an awful lot and fast.

Arioch would still have to give it ideas, but I reckon an AI augmented Arioch may be a powerful combination.

I am not suggesting he do that, since I already know Midjourney uses the whole internet to formulate a response, and some of that would be irrelavent to Arioch's style anyway.

Still... one can wonder and dream.

[G. Janssen]

This hiatus does have a new, rather unsettling quality to it. The newest page here is 218, which was posted on Patreon more than a year ago. Then, we have 26 half-finished pages behind a paywall. Will they ever be finished? When will they appear here? Only time can tell.

You know, with all the money that we patrons spend every month, we could hire an artist who would actually fini... Oh hi, Arioch. Why are you holding a chair over your head? Why are you looking at me like that?

Not gonna lie... you made me laugh outloud literally.


That said, I honestly think if an AI were programmed off Arioch's art, they could do an awful lot and fast.

Arioch would still have to give it ideas, but I reckon an AI augmented Arioch may be a powerful combination.

I am not suggesting he do that, since I already know Midjourney uses the whole internet to formulate a response, and some of that would be irrelavent to Arioch's style anyway.

Still... one can wonder and dream.

Aioch.

[Overkill Engine]

and isn't any more likely to turn into a paperclip maximizer than an ordinary human would.

Don't get me started on the stupid hairless apes.

[Demarquis]

Don't forget: the only quality that exceeds our stupidity is our laziness.

[Curlysan]

You know, with all the money that we patrons spend every month, we could hire an artist who would actually fini... Oh hi, Arioch. Why are you holding a chair over your head? Why are you looking at me like that?

Not gonna lie... you made me laugh outloud literally.


That said, I honestly think if an AI were programmed off Arioch's art, they could do an awful lot and fast.

Arioch would still have to give it ideas, but I reckon an AI augmented Arioch may be a powerful combination.

I am not suggesting he do that, since I already know Midjourney uses the whole internet to formulate a response, and some of that would be irrelavent to Arioch's style anyway.

Still... one can wonder and dream.

Aioch.

The idea of Arioch fixing to 'fix' someone with an overhead chair. . .

As to an AI becoming a web comic artist: I think the AI might be able to mimic the work stylistically, but the overall esthetic would be a "lot of awful." I doubt that any present AI could handle all the layers of human, or alien communications. Especially the Human/Loroi exchanges, which are still evolving & fraught(or gifted if you will) with misinterpretations.

[Demarquis]

I doubt that there is enough of Outsider art available online as a training set for an AI to learn off of.

[Krulle]

Not choosing to be born is not the same as being forced into the world.

As a father who was present during birth:

oh yes, the mother cannot do otherwise than FORCE the kid into the world.

It's not called "to be in labour" without reason.
It is hard work to push that kid out.
Very forceful shoving.
Thank God I'm the father, and not the mother...


And caesarean? The docs take the kid out. Not matter how much it struggles, it will be taken out.


And which option does the child have at any point during either path?
It's never asked. It cannot choose. Therefore it is forced.

[Hālian]

…So how comes the page-finishing?