David O'Mahony: What do we do when dystopian technology tropes become the norm?

Techbros have always treated creativity as a problem that needs to be solved, as opposed to a celebration of individuality

'Given how US and Canadian courts have ruled that copyright only applies to human-created material, the chances of making significant money off AI in the arts continue to dwindle.' File picture

"Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.”

That quote from Dune rattled around my head the other day, not just because of the trailer for Dune: Part III, but because chunks of the writing world have descended into frenzied witchhunts over AI usage. It’s like an ugly arms race to spot “the telltale signs” or some such and then obliterate the artist.