Mechanical Art

An algorithm has never held a brush,

Tapped a pencil,

Or scribbled on a tablet--

Yet it has replaced

The artist,

The writer,

The speaker,

And the creativity of man.

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AI has invaded the classroom,

Draining the potential of the youth,

Reducing them to mindless drones,

Destined to become cogs in a thankless machine.

/

This is all by design

By a government who values profit over people,

Who would put robots in charge

Rather than pay a person a living wage.

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Employers dare to ask humanity,

To train the machines that will replace them.

We have been warned of this eventuality,

Yet we do not see the forest fire for the burning trees.

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For every AI-generated piece of media,

There is a data center expelling toxins

Into an already carbon-infested atmosphere

All for the streamlining of creative processes.

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Mechanical art has taken over

The heart-produced creative works,

Ensuring that we humans can continue

To push the boulders up the hill.

/

I am not going to be replaced

By a machine that doesn't feel

Or doesn't know the intricacies of emotion

Just to appease a corporate villain.

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I do not exist to be valued

Only for my labor.

I will create the freedom

By my own hands

And erase your chains from my wrists.