Photography AI as art

[Alan Edward Klein]

I can’t tell what the other things are on the bed either. Not the best Ai engine I suppose.

That stuff by the second mug looks like my wife's sandwich.

 

[snusmumriken]

I can’t tell what the other things are on the bed either. Not the best Ai engine I suppose.

I thought maybe they were generalised photographic equipment, which could have followed from the prompt. I'm not entirely sure what gender the figure is, though.

 

[Pieter12]

I don’t really see why the AI added coffee mugs at all, given the prompt?

You see, AI can be creative on its own. Probably added the coffee mugs because the person is in be with a laptop, maybe associated that with being bed-bound and added things it deemed appropriate to the situation. Not sure if those are medicine bottles on the windowsill, or why multiple mugs—maybe he couldn’t get up to movecthem.

 

[Arthurwg]

The real victim of pernicious use of AI is fact and truth. Not that they were immune to begin with. Just as many state as fact something with no basis that they pull out off their asses, the same can be done with imagery today.

Like the concept of privacy, fact and truth may also be obsolete concepts.

 

[koraks]

Probably added the coffee mugs because the person is in be with a laptop, maybe associated that with being bed-bound and added things it deemed appropriate to the situation.

Nope. AI doesn't associate anything. The coffee mugs and random items are just mathematical matches with the training data.

 

[warden]

I thought maybe they were generalised photographic equipment, which could have followed from the prompt. I'm not entirely sure what gender the figure is, though.

I specified male so it took a swing at it.

 

[Pieter12]

Nope. AI doesn't associate anything. The coffee mugs and random items are just mathematical matches with the training data.

The training data produced those associations.

 

[koraks]

It doesn't imply 'creativity on its own'. And AI doesn't make associations. It's very pertinent to get this straight.

 

[Pieter12]

It doesn't imply 'creativity on its own'. And AI doesn't make associations. It's very pertinent to get this straight.

Maybe the wrong word. But it certainly seems to me that the prompt of being in bed with a laptop had AI create the mugs on the bed and bottles(?) on the windowsill as well as the crumple-up paper (tissue?). The prompt did not specify any of those. I assume that is some sort of camera on the bed, too because of the prompt "photographer." AI had to come up with them on its own, my assumption is association with the prompted situation.

In the case of the dogs at the table outside the café, I never prompted "outside." All I wrote was "dogs playing poker." AI put them outside, although it failed to include any playing cards or chips.

 

[cliveh]

Could AI write a Shakespeare play in the style of Shakespeare?

 

[Pieter12]

Could AI write a Shakespeare play in the style of Shakespeare?

Probably. Why don't you give it a try. There is certainly enough reference material for it to use.

 

[warden]

Could AI write a Shakespeare play in the style of Shakespeare?

Here you go. I asked for three paragraphs on the demise and resurrection of film photography.



**The Tragedy and Triumph of Silver'd Light**

O, mourn the fate of silver'd light, whose form once bold did paint the world with truth and art! In golden days of yore, the hands of masters wrought with alchemy of shade and glow, ensnaring fleeting time upon fair sheets of glass and film. The darkroom, sacred as a monk’s own cell, did brim with incantations, where bath of tincture did call forth the phantom forms from dark abyss. Yet lo, upon the winds of progress came a specter clad in ease—a soulless eye that knoweth not the toil of craft. With but a tap, the world was tricked to think that art was instant, effort naught, and what was once immortal shrank into the void of fleeting screens. The shutter, silent, wept. The chamber of the dark did empty. And stillness fell upon the art once prized.

Yet soft! What flicker yonder breaks the gloom? As spring to earth when winter’s grip doth fade, so too did yearning bloom in hearts once blind to loss. The hand, now weary of a world too swift, did long again to linger—to court the light, to woo the shadow, to taste the patient breath of time. The child, born of digits, sought the elder’s craft and learned again the weight of truth: that beauty lives not in a thousand careless sights but in the single, measured glance. And so, in chambers dark did candles light anew, and trays of silver'd brew did stir with magic once more.

Rejoice! The craft is risen, though not as once it stood. Nay, wiser now, it walks with modern stride yet doth not forget the path from whence it came. The hand, though fond of progress, doth honor well the past, and where once ease did reign alone, now art and toil walk side by side. The shutter sings again, its song both old and new, and those who thought its dirge was writ now lift their voices in accord. For lo, the world hath learned anew: that which is truly precious is not that which comes with haste, but that which time and hand and heart together shape.

 

[snusmumriken]

Here you go. I asked for three paragraphs on the demise and resurrection of film photography.



**The Tragedy and Triumph of Silver'd Light**

O, mourn the fate of silver'd light, whose form once bold did paint the world with truth and art! In golden days of yore, the hands of masters wrought with alchemy of shade and glow, ensnaring fleeting time upon fair sheets of glass and film. The darkroom, sacred as a monk’s own cell, did brim with incantations, where bath of tincture did call forth the phantom forms from dark abyss. Yet lo, upon the winds of progress came a specter clad in ease—a soulless eye that knoweth not the toil of craft. With but a tap, the world was tricked to think that art was instant, effort naught, and what was once immortal shrank into the void of fleeting screens. The shutter, silent, wept. The chamber of the dark did empty. And stillness fell upon the art once prized.

Yet soft! What flicker yonder breaks the gloom? As spring to earth when winter’s grip doth fade, so too did yearning bloom in hearts once blind to loss. The hand, now weary of a world too swift, did long again to linger—to court the light, to woo the shadow, to taste the patient breath of time. The child, born of digits, sought the elder’s craft and learned again the weight of truth: that beauty lives not in a thousand careless sights but in the single, measured glance. And so, in chambers dark did candles light anew, and trays of silver'd brew did stir with magic once more.

Rejoice! The craft is risen, though not as once it stood. Nay, wiser now, it walks with modern stride yet doth not forget the path from whence it came. The hand, though fond of progress, doth honor well the past, and where once ease did reign alone, now art and toil walk side by side. The shutter sings again, its song both old and new, and those who thought its dirge was writ now lift their voices in accord. For lo, the world hath learned anew: that which is truly precious is not that which comes with haste, but that which time and hand and heart together shape.

'Struth! Imagine having to learn that by heart for homework.

 

[cliveh]

Here you go. I asked for three paragraphs on the demise and resurrection of film photography.



**The Tragedy and Triumph of Silver'd Light**

O, mourn the fate of silver'd light, whose form once bold did paint the world with truth and art! In golden days of yore, the hands of masters wrought with alchemy of shade and glow, ensnaring fleeting time upon fair sheets of glass and film. The darkroom, sacred as a monk’s own cell, did brim with incantations, where bath of tincture did call forth the phantom forms from dark abyss. Yet lo, upon the winds of progress came a specter clad in ease—a soulless eye that knoweth not the toil of craft. With but a tap, the world was tricked to think that art was instant, effort naught, and what was once immortal shrank into the void of fleeting screens. The shutter, silent, wept. The chamber of the dark did empty. And stillness fell upon the art once prized.

Yet soft! What flicker yonder breaks the gloom? As spring to earth when winter’s grip doth fade, so too did yearning bloom in hearts once blind to loss. The hand, now weary of a world too swift, did long again to linger—to court the light, to woo the shadow, to taste the patient breath of time. The child, born of digits, sought the elder’s craft and learned again the weight of truth: that beauty lives not in a thousand careless sights but in the single, measured glance. And so, in chambers dark did candles light anew, and trays of silver'd brew did stir with magic once more.

Rejoice! The craft is risen, though not as once it stood. Nay, wiser now, it walks with modern stride yet doth not forget the path from whence it came. The hand, though fond of progress, doth honor well the past, and where once ease did reign alone, now art and toil walk side by side. The shutter sings again, its song both old and new, and those who thought its dirge was writ now lift their voices in accord. For lo, the world hath learned anew: that which is truly precious is not that which comes with haste, but that which time and hand and heart together shape.

Wow.

 

[koraks]

Maybe the wrong word. But it certainly seems to me that the prompt of being in bed with a laptop had AI create the mugs on the bed and bottles(?) on the windowsill as well as the crumple-up paper (tissue?). The prompt did not specify any of those. I assume that is some sort of camera on the bed, too because of the prompt "photographer." AI had to come up with them on its own, my assumption is association with the prompted situation.

In the case of the dogs at the table outside the café, I never prompted "outside." All I wrote was "dogs playing poker." AI put them outside, although it failed to include any playing cards or chips.

Yes, I see. I think 'associated' is an unfortunate choice of words because it suggests sentience or the actual act of thinking of something in conjunction of something else. But I understand what you mean.

 

[snusmumriken]

Yes, I see. I think 'associated' is an unfortunate choice of words because it suggests sentience or the actual act of thinking of something in conjunction of something else. But I understand what you mean.

In genetics - which like AI is not purposive - you would call it linkage, but you can also talk about ‘associated’ characteristics/genes.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Here you go. I asked for three paragraphs on the demise and resurrection of film photography.



**The Tragedy and Triumph of Silver'd Light**

O, mourn the fate of silver'd light, whose form once bold did paint the world with truth and art! In golden days of yore, the hands of masters wrought with alchemy of shade and glow, ensnaring fleeting time upon fair sheets of glass and film. The darkroom, sacred as a monk’s own cell, did brim with incantations, where bath of tincture did call forth the phantom forms from dark abyss. Yet lo, upon the winds of progress came a specter clad in ease—a soulless eye that knoweth not the toil of craft. With but a tap, the world was tricked to think that art was instant, effort naught, and what was once immortal shrank into the void of fleeting screens. The shutter, silent, wept. The chamber of the dark did empty. And stillness fell upon the art once prized.

Yet soft! What flicker yonder breaks the gloom? As spring to earth when winter’s grip doth fade, so too did yearning bloom in hearts once blind to loss. The hand, now weary of a world too swift, did long again to linger—to court the light, to woo the shadow, to taste the patient breath of time. The child, born of digits, sought the elder’s craft and learned again the weight of truth: that beauty lives not in a thousand careless sights but in the single, measured glance. And so, in chambers dark did candles light anew, and trays of silver'd brew did stir with magic once more.

Rejoice! The craft is risen, though not as once it stood. Nay, wiser now, it walks with modern stride yet doth not forget the path from whence it came. The hand, though fond of progress, doth honor well the past, and where once ease did reign alone, now art and toil walk side by side. The shutter sings again, its song both old and new, and those who thought its dirge was writ now lift their voices in accord. For lo, the world hath learned anew: that which is truly precious is not that which comes with haste, but that which time and hand and heart together shape.

Needs a little work.

 

[warden]

Needs a little work.

It took the AI about 10 seconds to write that. Perhaps for a quality improvement I should request that it take 15?

 

[Sirius Glass]

Depends on what you're smoking.

Or drinking
Or both

 

[Vaughn]

Needs a little work.

Don't we all!

 

[Sirius Glass]

AI-assisted image making is not "pointing to databases with art". There's not database with art that you pick from by giving a prompt. It doesn't work like that. Part of what makes the discussion on AI always very fuzzy is that people (understandably) don't realize what they're dealing with and how it works. In this sense, it's a very much like bitcoin/crypto currency, although in that instance, most people seem to readily admit they don't understand how the technical underpinnings work. With AI, many people seem to think they know how it works, while in fact getting the basic principles totally wrong, as evidenced in the quote above.

Database refers to any files that the AI user points to. That requires little or no art knowledge or talent.

 

[koraks]

Database refers to any files that the AI user points to.

Yes, and AI as we discuss it here doesn't work like that. The user doesn't 'point to files'.

That requires little or no art knowledge or talent.

I disagree. I think making an insightful, creative artwork using AI is possible, and it requires both knowledge and talent as well as creative vision to do so. At the same time, AI can also make uninspired dribble. In that sense, it's a bit difference from a paintbrush - the same paintbrush can make a phenomenal work of art in the right hands, but it tends to produce embarrassing splotches when wielded without skill. AI can be used to make a phenomenal work of art, but in uneducated hands, it will still produce a presentable, albeit uninspired and tacky work. The latter fact seems to be misunderstood to mean that AI can only be used to make uninspired dribble. This is a misconception.

Keep in mind that when it comes to making AI-based art, if you want to draw a parallel, we're a couple of thousand years behind the point of the Lasceaux cave paintings. Give it a century; you'll be amazed. Much of the criticism that AI gets now is akin to a tribe of Neanderthals shooting down the inventor of the paintbrush roughly 5 minutes after he figured out how to use a clot of his own snot to stick a bunch of woolly mammoth hairs to a stick.

 

[Pieter12]

AI as we discuss it here doesn't work like that. The user doesn't 'point to files'

I am of the understanding that a user can supply their own files for AI to enhance and manipulate.

 

[warden]

I am of the understanding that a user can supply their own files for AI to enhance and manipulate.

True but the current state of the art is in its infancy. You can upload one of your images and ask for a blue filter for instance and it’ll do that competently. Where it would struggle is if you upload a photo of a model with tattoos and a white shirt and ask the system to change the color of the shirt and remove the tattoos. It’ll have a very hard time with that.

 

[cliveh]

I can imagine that in the course of time, AI may produce great art, as it would reflect a consensus of human artistic values and appreciation. Imagine a picture that could combine the skill and imagination of several artists in one image. The same goes for music and literature.