It’s been a couple of years now and Generative AI for image making has really “come a long way” I wanted to write a short blog post about my experience with this new technological revalation and the implications + the knock on effects that we are living through at the moment.
Yes another one of those post! I’m sure there is about a bazillion of these articles, perhaps it’s required that ever artists voices their thoughts.
Everything Wrong with GenAI
What really angers me, and all the other artist out there, I’m sure, is the fact that art making as a profession has been discarded. What we humans create as an out pour of our emotions, skills, ideas and stories has been so disrespectfully stolen and regurgitated. Things aren’t the same any more, entry level roles in concept art, graphic design have been getting the axe like crazy.
Again let’s not forget the lack of any compensation, or accountability for all the artwork, artists names, styles that got scraped! It Really leaves you with a sour taste in your mouth, imagine you’ve dedicated your entire life to creating art or learning the skill, graphic design and expressing yourself when all of a sudden it’s that deemed meaningless. Now because a prompt can make images almost instantaneously everyone thinks they are an artist.
Why pay for the real thing if you get it on the cheap for free?
It’s become a trend to prompt and post. just look at LinkedIn or Instagram, it’s becoming normalized. Sometimes it just generates utter none-sense, same same same, poor quality renders of out of the box ideas. People also posting bad images because they prompted it. For the time being it seems there is still a need for cleaning these AI images up. Notice the renders bellow it contains artifacts from signatures and watermarks from other artists!
What GenAi does right?
Fast for idea creation, random ideation streamlining visualization. Yes, some folks hate the randomness, but I personally find it a great trade off.
All the images in this post have been made using Midjourney, once upon a time.
For me I found GenAi a good tool, an outlet for times when I couldn’t spend 60 hours on a painting and needed the creative outlet. When I just wanted to see what it would look like without actually putting in the work, because it is work, no matter how pleasurable it may seem.
Sometimes it’s just beyond human capability, that’s why its scary.
Conclusion
I cancelled my Midjourney subscription, it just felt dirty, I couldn’t get past the fact that I’m paying a company not the artist.
I couldn’t get over that fact that I’m not actually creating anything.
It also has an unnatural feel to it, like it shouldn’t be possible but it is, making images from your words. At university they really made a mess of “What is Art” made us say that anything can be art! But that is ultimately not true, think of our ancestors that spent their life learning the craft of paint and then being commissioned to paint a church or portrait. There was a far greater respect and appreciation and value for what man creates. now that a machine can make it quick and easy suddenly we forget that it takes years to get to this level and some, even myself my never reach this skill level.
Yes it’s impressive, fun even, great for making ideas, but don’t forget it’s not you making anything your just remixing others. Therefore you aren’t spending any time behind the brush or pencil, so your skill level ain’t going anywhere, depending on the time you spend generating in stead of drawing your skills are going down.
Someone once said that AI is for the wealth to gain access to skills, and for the skilled to never be wealthy. I think over time people will see it for what it is, I’m lost for words to what to compare it to, maybe a hammer you use once in a while. Great for hammering nails but can’t do any sawing.
