Artificial intelligence

I like thinking of the term art as a verb. Same with jazz. It's an approach as much as it is a thing.

This might be what frodo just pointed out, but to me an artist is able to work in various mediums and not just one thing. Drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, cloth, photography, architecture, etc.

As far as Photoshop, Illustrator, etc., I think they're just tools. Like a brush, or chisel. Without vision they're almost worthless. Like carpenter's tools in the hands of someone who has no idea how to use them.

That said, the new tools have gotten to the point where AI is now a normal feature. Photographers get into arguments about whether the PS sky replacement feature is legit or just AI bullshit. The discussions can get deep considering all photography is is the capturing of light and printmakers were manipulating film/negatives in the darkroom long before everything went digital. I'll use AI sky replacement for purely work images where the goal is to create an image that's intended to sell something because it's faster and 'good enough' for all concerned. But if it's personal I'll manipulate the pixels.

Theft is another difficult thing to say 100% either way because it's well established that artists use other artist's work to create something new of their own. Collage, literary cut up techniques, sampling music, etc.

I think it comes down to some people being put off that it's now to the point where people can create not just by entering data and pushing buttons, but merely by entering a few key words, hitting a button, and waiting for the CPU/GPU to do their things and spit out a result. Kind of like being able to play an instrument vs. programming something and then manipulating it to create sounds vs now just punching in the descriptive words and having a song pop out. Gives "button pusher" a whole new meaning.

You guys aren't seeing the endgame.
Imagine movies produced by AI specifically based on your likes. AI producing content tailored specifically for you and you only. It could be used to change environments based on your likes.
AI Kevin in shehulk was a joke but it's also a look at the future of how content will be made.
This AI trend is only beginning with pictures, soon AI will be managing our lives for us.

Like wall-e

I just had a conversation with Saul Goodman that seemed pretty damn realistic. There's a bunch of other people from television characters to historical figures to Japanese Anime characters you can chat with. Napolean, Peter Griffin, The 11'th Doctor, Lao Tzu, Freud, Churchill, Einstein, Goth girlfriend, a dog who can talk, a folding chair, etc. You can also create characters.

beta.character.ai

just patiently waiting for skynet to take over...


www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/boston-dynamics-atlas-robot-humanoid-flip/

oh shit, we're gonna get TTE'd hard.

AI images are lame and selling AI images for profit is incredibly stupid. Not sure if it's been discussed but we all know someone who "creates" AI images and sells them for profit. I find that to be pathetic and a rather slimy way to get money out of people. I do not look at AI images as a form of art and I do not see any skill involved in "creating" these images especially when you're basically just telling a database what you want to do. What is the creativity in that? Maybe AI imagery serves a purpose but it is not a true form of art.

That's kind of a narrow interpretation. What if I had a website that needed thousands of generic thumbnails for products I am selling. Should I purchase stock photos or take all the pictures myself? I could just type the prompts into AI and get the pictures way easier.

I guess my point is that there are legitimate uses for this technology.

I started typing out a few thoughts on what can be defined as art, but it seems more appropriate to just drop this quote instead. Every so often it has relevance to a conversation here. This might be the perfect situation.



"Mockingbirds are the true artists of the bird kingdom. Which is to say, although they're born with a song of their own, an innate riff that happens to be one of the most versatile of all ornithological expressions, mocking birds aren't content to merely play the hand that is dealt them. Like all artists, they are out to rearrange reality. Innovative, willful, daring, not bound by the rules to which others may blindly adhere, the mockingbird collects snatches of birdsong from this tree and that field, appropriates them, places them in new and unexpected contexts, recreates the world from the world. For example, a mockingbird in South Carolina was heard to blend the songs of thirty-two different kinds of birds into a ten-minute performance, a virtuoso display that serve no practical purpose, falling, therefore, into the realm of pure art."


Tom Robbins - Skinny Legs and All