In sort of a similar way, as a young print designer, I saw the writing on the wall as the internet took over. I taught myself how to code. I avoided so many layoffs during the 2008-09 crash. Now I’m trying to do the same with AI. I simply cannot ignore it. I’m incredibly proficient at Googling so prompts (or researching how to prompt) comes naturally (read:easy) to me. It’s not really about the bots but how we humans control them. And yes, we still have control 😂
AI seems like it's going to be a march towards mediocrity. At the moment it produces an ok version of something based on what it finds on the internet to learn from. It won't be that long before what it assimilates is mostly the mediocre work created by AI and we end up with diminishing returns. Between that and Crocs it feels like the future will be Idiocracy.
Hey, Peter, thanks for your thoughts. If you are interested, here’s another frame through which to view AI:
1. 95% of everything has always been mediocre. Popular music is a good example. Pick any period in which a bunch of great music has been created, then go watch a Top of the Pops from that era. Almost every song in any episode you choose will be garbage. When we remember only the GREAT music of the past and compare it to ALL the music of now, of course the past looks better. 95% of what people use AI to make will be mediocre. This is to be expected.
2. Humans are unable to stop being creative. It doesn’t matter that AI is based on derivation, humans will be compelled to use it in ways that are fresh, creative and unexpected. We can’t help it.
3. People are putting in the hours. The idea that you can type six words and get art is false. I’ve tried. To get good results, people are spending hundreds of hours creating thousands of variations then using other tools to edit, refine and combine their results. People who create with AI make it look easy, but they are doing things that most people can’t/won’t do.
4. In summary, AI looks like the printing press, photography, vector graphics, the piano or other new medium of creation that has disrupted the status quo.
As for Crocs…
— They are super comfortable
— They let your feet spread in a natural way
— They last forever
— The hip hop kids have decided they are cool, therefore they are cool
Gonna have to beg to differ on Crocs 😂. Are there still hip hop kids?
95% of everything.... Good point. Despite the work going into describing what a person wants in terms of AI art I think it's still going to be a case of diminishing returns, at least initially. People will, eventually, learn to use it in innovative ways but that's off in the future somewhere. I can see the similarity to the arrival of photography, which was expected to herald the death of drawing and painting. Can't help but feel that the result of democratization of creativity with Canva and fvrr and the like is mediocre work. Hopefully I'm wrong, in the long term at least.
In sort of a similar way, as a young print designer, I saw the writing on the wall as the internet took over. I taught myself how to code. I avoided so many layoffs during the 2008-09 crash. Now I’m trying to do the same with AI. I simply cannot ignore it. I’m incredibly proficient at Googling so prompts (or researching how to prompt) comes naturally (read:easy) to me. It’s not really about the bots but how we humans control them. And yes, we still have control 😂
My thoughts exactly. Use your noggin’! Choose what serves you in every instance. Ease and grace.🦋
Rock solid advice
Timely and helpful. Thank you for this post.
AI seems like it's going to be a march towards mediocrity. At the moment it produces an ok version of something based on what it finds on the internet to learn from. It won't be that long before what it assimilates is mostly the mediocre work created by AI and we end up with diminishing returns. Between that and Crocs it feels like the future will be Idiocracy.
Hey, Peter, thanks for your thoughts. If you are interested, here’s another frame through which to view AI:
1. 95% of everything has always been mediocre. Popular music is a good example. Pick any period in which a bunch of great music has been created, then go watch a Top of the Pops from that era. Almost every song in any episode you choose will be garbage. When we remember only the GREAT music of the past and compare it to ALL the music of now, of course the past looks better. 95% of what people use AI to make will be mediocre. This is to be expected.
2. Humans are unable to stop being creative. It doesn’t matter that AI is based on derivation, humans will be compelled to use it in ways that are fresh, creative and unexpected. We can’t help it.
3. People are putting in the hours. The idea that you can type six words and get art is false. I’ve tried. To get good results, people are spending hundreds of hours creating thousands of variations then using other tools to edit, refine and combine their results. People who create with AI make it look easy, but they are doing things that most people can’t/won’t do.
4. In summary, AI looks like the printing press, photography, vector graphics, the piano or other new medium of creation that has disrupted the status quo.
As for Crocs…
— They are super comfortable
— They let your feet spread in a natural way
— They last forever
— The hip hop kids have decided they are cool, therefore they are cool
Gonna have to beg to differ on Crocs 😂. Are there still hip hop kids?
95% of everything.... Good point. Despite the work going into describing what a person wants in terms of AI art I think it's still going to be a case of diminishing returns, at least initially. People will, eventually, learn to use it in innovative ways but that's off in the future somewhere. I can see the similarity to the arrival of photography, which was expected to herald the death of drawing and painting. Can't help but feel that the result of democratization of creativity with Canva and fvrr and the like is mediocre work. Hopefully I'm wrong, in the long term at least.
Re: hip hop kids – here's your week's listening sorted: https://pirate.com/en/blog/new-uk-rappers/
Re: mediocre work – in design, at least, the standard of mediocre is way higher than it was 25 years ago when I got started.