First off, sorry if this is the wrong to community to post to - I'll move it somewhere else should it not fit the community.
My best friend quite often is a contrarian for the sake of being a contrarian, I feel like. Discussing politics, veganism, the problems with using Amazon, what have you, with him is nigh impossible because he insists on his opinion and won't budge. I feel like he just feels superior to other people, or at least to me, in a way that he just won't change his mind, doesn't hear other sides, and argues for the sake of arguing.
Now, in a recent discussion, I asked him if he knew why images aren't displayed properly in my Firefox-fork browser (Mull). He gave an answer and asked why I would use a custom browser instead of Firefox itself to which I responded that it's more privacy-focused and that I didn't like Mozilla's implementation of AI in their browser.
Long story short, it devolved into a lengthy discussion about AI, how the fear of AI is based on ignorance and a lack of knowledge, that it's fine that AI is used for creative projects because in most cases it's an assisting tool that aids creativity, doesn't steal jobs etc. essentially that it's just a tool to be used like a hammer would be.
What pisses me off the most about all this is that he subtly implies that I don't know enough about the subject to have an opinion on it and that I don't have any sources to prove my points so they're essentially void.
How do I deal with this? Whatever facts I name he just shrugs off with "counter"-arguments. I've sent him articles that he doesn't accept as sources. This has been going on for a couple hours now and I don't know what to tell him. Do you guys have sources I could shove in his face? Any other facts I should throw his way?
Thank you in advance
Edit: A thing to add: I wasn't trying to convince him that AI itself is bad - there are useful usages of AI that I won't ignore. What I was concerned about is the way AI is used in any and all products nowadays that don't need AI to function at all, like some AI-powered light bulbs or whatever; that creative jobs and arts are actively harmed by people scraping data and art from artists to create derivative "art"; that it's used to influence politics (Trump, Gaza). These things. The way AI is used in its unmonitored way is just dangerous, I feel like
I think the main difference is intent, inspiration, and feelings portrayed through art. AI may be able to replicate a certain style or use a motif, but the three aspects I mentioned are absent with an AI. It is, indeed, difficult to put into words what you mean - I'll give you that.
So like, I guess I'm just wondering how that refutes his point that it's a tool for artists then.
I personally am aware of people who run local LLMs trained on their own art so they don't have to spend as much time sketching or doing linework.
Maybe you're just not as open-minded about this as you could be? It's being used in sketchy ways by a lot of people, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have a place, especially at the idea stage.
For sure, yes. I'm not arguing that AI has its uses. The main thing I was discussing with my friend was that the way AI is used commercially right now is damaging to a lot of industries, that it's a trend being used by companies to make their products looks better than they are, and that they profit off other peoples' work. AI is a tool, yes, but what I was so adamant about was that there should regulations and policies that make clear what is and where it's ok to use and what isn't
Then I would steer away from arguments which are more debatable and stick to ones that are more robust and focus on the present and future than the past, and avoid anything that can get mired in debate. I'd focus on what the specific problem is (we will have fewer artists due to competition with AI) why it's a problem (cultural stagnation, lack of new inspiration for new ideas) and why alternative solutions to regulation wouldn't work (would socializing artistic fields work as they'd no longer be subject to market forces).