AI and photography

This has probably already been written about and rewritten by an AI bot but I thought Id put down my current thoughts on the whole AI art things and what it means to be an artist these days.

I was just about to write this journal entry when I came across the video by Will Goodlet on the same idea.

Now I can only write my own experiences so this may be myopic in someone else’s eyes but what isn’t?

AI is here to stay. It is being woven into every conceivable product and service and we will see a myriad of useful, bizarre and down right stupid integrations for it. My news feed is littered every day with new models and papers finding novel data sets and node distributions. Every day is a exponential growth in models. Its a hang on and see where this wild ride will land. And just like any wave, you can either get crushed under it or ride it. AI is a weird one in that although this wave will inevitably crush a many parts of our daily processors, it can be looked at as a separate entity to a creative pursuit.

Because why do we create? For me it is a desire to make something. I have a literal need to build, draw, sculpt or cut wood and shape it. And it is not even because of the final outcome. The art or whatever the final product of that creative session is is less important than the process.

I enjoy the doing. The making of the thing.

Getting into some sort of flow state, a meditative routine where everything melts away and yo come out of it tired but refreshed. Like washing away the dirt of non creativity. You have worked hard and can look onto your creation with genuine surprise sometimes as you sometimes don’t know what it is you are making.

Art to me is that process. It is something I want to do. I want the frustration of working out a problem. The meditation that the hours or working on something can only bring. And the sense of pride of the final creation. Even if it is a bit shit.
You can sometimes tell the progress you have made by looking at all the other turd potatoes you have kept (or taken photos of and then burned the original)

I made that.

And when it is something you are proud of, its a whole other level of satisfaction.

Will touches on this in his video below. He is a wildlife photographer and links his creative pursuit to the act of being there. A documentation of being in a real place and having a real life interaction. Sometimes that is proceeded by days or absolute boredom waiting for a photo to present itself and sometimes its simply being present and taking that moment to press the shutter button.

AI is a tool. Like any hammer, all problems look like nails. I have a feeling we are in the “ hit the fucking thing with the hammer” phase. Painting with a hammer is hard. Sculpture is probably easier. Brain surgery would probably be a bad idea. Its all going to get tried and eventually some good bits will stick (hopefully)

My son and his one friend spent the afternoon making a Ginger bread house. Decorating it all with icing sugar and lollypops till it was practically caving in on itself.

They then proudly showed them to us.

“Are you going to eat any?” we asked.
”No, it was fun to squeeze the sugar on but I don’t like ginger bread”

Well that was a waste of food. I don’t like ginger bread either but still.

So the chickens got to eat it and potentially get diabetes.
That little moment made me realize how inbuilt it is to us humans. Kids do loads of things like that and so do us older kids.
We may loose it but for some of us it becomes a compulsion that must be satisfied otherwise we become ill. I get cranky and in a bad mood. My partner will sometimes shove me into the garage and tell me to make something. She knows me quite well :)

Anyway my point is that art and our appreciation for it wont change much with AI. It will become a tool like any other but the journey will be the ultimate goal. Like a book is the summation of a story, an artwork is a telling of a journey that someone can take home with them and revile in.

This does not hold up for commercial work. There we will see the biggest change in the industry.
Teri Campbell has been pushing this side forward and I can see a lot of practical application to it, I also wonder how much will be accepted before people push back on the ideal of a product or service vs what it actually is. I am looking forward to the creative tools being integrated into our app suits instead of having to go to Midjourney or whatever the next one will be. So much change in a very short period.
Here is to being scared but holding on for the ride.

Note: Most images were AI generated on my computer while typing this entry. Lol. hands are still weird.