I don't repost this drawing as often as I'd like to because whenever I do, I attract insufferable bros.

If you are an insufferable bro arguing about AI images I will block you because I'm tired of your shit

@doombloomart

Here's a project I am working to bring to life. I think you will find it relevant.

https://rant.li/ashwin/visions-for-a-new-web#malcolm

@purrperl Hi there! I think it's admirable that you're trying to build an alternative that addresses some of the known ethical problems with current models.

That being said, your post is pretty brief and I don't know what the goal is and who this is for, other than addressing the named issues on a technical level. I personally don't see a use for LLMs for anything but pure language problems, and for art specifrically, tools that don't aim to put out a "result" are 20000% more useful to me.

@purrperl What I'm trying to say is that the AI assistance for me as a visual artist anything of the kind (text|img) -> finished img because even if properly licensed and compensated, it's still cutting most of me out of the process. I don't want that and I'm sure many writers, musicians etc see it the same way.

On the other hand there are ML-driven tools such as: "scan the body/hand pose from an image and apply to a low poly 3D model for rough reference" which I find immensely helpful.

@doombloomart

I thoroughly agree with that, as I also enjoy the simple pleasure of applying pencil/pen/brush to paper and letting the imagination drive the exploration. That's quintessential to art.

However, as someone who has been programming computers since the early 1980s, I find LLMs immensely useful in programming, where the goal is more utilitarian than aesthetic. There is quantifiable "progress". LLMs let me get done in 1 day, what would normally take me 2 months of manual coding.

1/2

@doombloomart

Also, consider that till cameras were invented, all visual images had to be recorded by hand. Perhaps artists at the time of that invention were appalled at this witchcraft that cut them out of the process. Yet, today photography is an art form, parallel to painting. Nothing was lost, and something beautiful was gained.

I experimented with AI generated visual art a few years ago, and realized that in the age of AI, aesthetic standards themselves are changing.

2/n

@doombloomart

If one is using AI to generate "pretty" images that would have taken a conventional artist decades of diligence to master, that's not really art anymore. That's now taken for granted.

One has to use AI, and its powers, not to mimic past masters, but to imaginatively push the envelope and take art to the next level. Who knows what aesthetic dimension this new artistic tool will open to us? In a few decades, there might be a new art form, to parallel photography.

3/n

@doombloomart

So while AI has left a bad initial taste in people's mouths, let's rinse off that bitterness, and be open to possibilities. After dating a bad guy, one should not quit dating altogether. Let's give the good guys, and the ethical AIs, a chance.

Just getting this new technology ecosystem off the ground, and I am personally thrilled about the possibilities. Wait and see. Maybe they will win over the current wave of artists, disgruntled about AI generated images.

😉

4/4

@purrperl Sorry, but pretending that artists are merely disgruntled and "not open" makes you sound like a dickhead.

Artists were interested in AI imagery before they became mainstream, myself included. We thought it was cool when it was still trippy, weird, clearly different from most human's art. We spent afternoons showing each other pur Wombo Art generations. We were open, until we learned about 1. how it worked 2. how it's being used to harm us

@purrperl You can compare it to the camera, sure, but the only thing they have in common is that they generate an image at the "press of a button", but ignore the fact that photography consists of physically going somewhere, setting the scene up, waiting for the perfect moment, editing, yada yada.

I would compare it more to something like Spotify. It does attribute and compensate, yet when you ask musicians, each and every one will say it's the worst thing that ever happened to the industry.