Creativity.
Analytical thinking for too long can bring out the worst of me. This and that. 1+1 = 2. Not really what is fun to do. When you need an outlet - turn to art and let yourself be creative. You can do this by not being locked into what's right or wrong with your painting or sketch. Just draw and look at the tip of your pen / brush. Don't see the large picture, only the line closes to you. Then you will realize that you deactivate that analytical part of the brain and this will relieve you and allow you to be more creative. If you tend to be caught up by the stress of normal work day - then turn to art.
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No Panic. Just Yet. AI art is not magic. Research intensive AI technology has caused controversy from artists online on the fairness of technology. People are scared, of their livelihood replaced by AI. The legal moral, technological aspects are one big mess right now. How many will this affect, traditional and digital artists, architects, concept artist etc? In this post I will try to focus on the artists and tech companies as the combatants. It turns out that AI art was not so appreciated by artists. Especially when they can enter contests and claim the first prize. For more about this search Jason Allen Theatre d'opéra spatial. Is there a solution to this? Will AI expand its territory and replace artists? I think not. Art is art when it's a human endeavour. We as humans recognise and appreciate the human labour innately. I believe even more when the underlying process is creative and honed craftsmanship. We appreciate the work made by an engineer, because of the hours they've spent thinking about a problem before reaching a solution. We (humans) can relate, that is the key. I recognised that AI art companies are keen making this sound as a helpful tool for humanity. Of course, it's important for them that an AI tool is portrayed as something with creative skills. Only difference it lacks mood swings, emotions and humour. Let's look at two tag lines for two companies behind AI art, as you understand it's important for them to insist thinking they're doing something beneficial for the human race. Midjourney is an independent research lab exploring new mediums of thought and expanding the imaginative powers of the human species. Stability.ai AI by the people, for the people. I wonder if people are aware that their artwork is being used commercially in AI Art products. Protecting artwork from being stolen or used in AI is probably as important as any tech company wanting to protect their intellectual property from being shared and misused.
The AI Model. First of all any reasonably accepted AI art model would not be able to exist without real artists' work. An AI model is fed with millions of images and corresponding detail description ("label") in order to train it - this is what constitutes the core of its functionality. This can be claimed to be collected under normal circumstances - it's all available on the internet. True! Now what would happen if they were available on the internet but also copyrighted against use in any AI technology. At best all AI art would consist of cats, dogs and rectangles or other meme resources. We can tell the model "here are zillion images, go ahead and learn how they look". If all those images were only cats and memes, well you'll only get beautiful cats in rectangles. The Law. Copyright this. Copyright that. I'm not a lawyer, nor can I provide legal advice. I know about Creative Commons and copyright in general. That's how far my knowledge stretches. My thoughts revolve on what will happen when we rely too much on a law that will cover all different aspects of this complex scenario. Do we believe legislation alone can protect artists? Do we want a new world where lawmakers push new rules and tech companies try their best to circumvent them? Look at GDPR. At best we now have web full of popups. The business model has not changed drastically and privacy is less of a concern. The Tech Argument. Artists should now adapt and learn to use the technology. This is a sneak way of gaining access to all images without changing a single thing. When artists bow down to the big tech wave they unwillingly will also accept the results AI produce for them. Technology is a tool, but the tool is not here to dictate the value of another person's work. Technology is subordinate to us - the human race. The Second Tech Argument. Artists have always drawn inspiration from other artists. Our machine does the same. True. New art also relies on people's own creativity, background and experiences. It relies on the mood, emotions of a human being. A cloudy day will also inspire an artist different from a sunny one. This process is what artists and art lovers honour about art. Not the case with machines. The Future. We will have AI art. But will the consumers of traditional art or those who appreciate the human labor behind it also be interested in AI art? I think not. Will galleries for AI art be realistic. Yes, why not? Who will attend their exhibitions? Robots. Jokes aside, the way forward that will let AI companies develop their solutions is not to assume all content can be used for generating art -- certainly not in commercial products.
How widespread the AI technology will become across publishers, animation studios and alike remains to see. Many are scared they are being replaced, however this all depends on the culture of the company and what they value the most. At the end of the day, money (costs) matters. More than appreciation for the human endeavour? Ask your boss. However, the artist will still be in the process of approving and guiding how an image is suitable and what makes the best choice in a particular context. Remember, a machine is not aware of what it produces. It cannot say if a large tree is more beautiful than a small tree or such and such visual element entice a particular feeling to the reader. This is the job of the artist. Curated list of resources, helpful and inspiring
Visual Composition (wish list):
Painting
Animal Studies
I let my thoughts wander on this blog.
There are several paths to take in artistic creation. How will this path look like? In 2019 I made my first illustration depicting this overwhelming process. |
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