It is beyond disappointing to see the UNBC Timberwolves social media filled with AI-generated trends. The most recent example is the AI caricature trend.
We already know that AI uses enormous amounts of water to process data, but it hits even closer to home as more and more data centres move to the north. This is our rivers being used to generate useless graphics, all for the sake of the algorithm. Do the Timberwolves not have enough money to commission real-life artists to make fun caricatures of their athletes?
I am also curious about whether the athletes have explicitly given their permission for their images to be uploaded to AI. People are not always willing for their likeness to be put into an AI generator, as this then informs the future images made by the bot. Many people don’t even know the possible ways in which their images could be misused.
It is endlessly frustrating to me that UNBC bought the trademark “Canada’s Green University” and is unwilling to live up to the claim. Canada’s Green University wouldn’t be wasting water on social media trends; it would be helping to inform its community of the environmental harms AI contributes to.
