Artificial Intelligence
Text to art AI is big news in the world of graphic design. Tools like Stable Diffusion expedite processes like prototyping to an instant. Where before it would take hours of laborious sketching. Machine mind can mimic styles of the masters. Such great innovation invites even bigger controversy. Artists are stereotypically passionate and emotional. Maybe this is what is necessary to alarm the rest of humanity to the mechanical conundrum we find ourselves in.
Many People are decrying the use of AI generated art. Moreover, there is a fervent opposition to machine made images online. AI Art is causing real infrastructure issues. For example, many portfolio websites have refused machine made images. As bulk AI Art inundated them with low effort generations. The internet is awash in a sea of insignificant pixel pollution, and it’s causing quite a reaction. For instance, people are protesting the ethics of how the machine models were made. Furthermore, People want disclosures on all AI Art. Moreover, they want to segregate AI artifice from the work of human artists completely. The demands of the mob vary from reasonable to unreasonable. Currently it looks like the best course of action for creatives is to do nothing at all and watch the dust settle.
History Repeating
The Luddite impulse is seeing a resurgence in recent times. Yet it misses the point. The Luddites were not successful at dismantling the technological systems that led to a new era beyond that of the industrial revolution. The machines are here and the means of their production will not be halted. This rebellion against industrialist and now the technologist will not effect the future. It will take time to make precedents and an ethical framework but artificial intelligence is here to stay. It’s a Pandora’s box that is already opened, and the genie can not be put back into the bottle.
For the first time in memory ordinary people on the internet seem like they are concerned with the ethics of technology. Technology has been quietly mistreating it’s users for decades in ways that are too subtle for most people to care about. I have never met an ordinary person who both understands and cares about the ethics behind their technology. In my experience the fastest way to end a conversation is to bring up the ethics behind tech. No one wants to hear how their sausage is made.
Edge running
I had jumped out far in front of the trends and began using Stable Diffusion to generate images long before it became a mainstream concern. However, the emotional reaction people are having to AI artwork has given me pause in publishing any of it. I see great utility with stable diffusion and other such AI models. They create novel concepts and are great for all manner of digital art.
As someone who has labored away furiously with the traditional implements of creative expression. I see artificial intelligence as a boon. I don’t have the same sentimental attachment to my essence as many artists seem to. From a utilitarian point of view this is the greatest good to share with others. I see that a machine can emulate my style but it does not threaten me because a machine could never emulate the context that drives me to be creative. If content was valued over context modern art would not exist.
Tinkering
I’ve been using Stable Diffusion locally. Thanks to the Stable Diffusion Web UI project. Which makes tools for generating AI art the exceptionally accessible. Stable Diffusion web UI contains everything needed to work with Stable Diffusion. You can train models the and make batch the image generations, apply styles the and customize your prompt easily. I’ve experimented with using this to generate textures for objects in 3D Scenes. As well as generating images based on a certain style. This technology requires a quite hardy graphics card to house the AI model. There is an enormous glut of such cards is on the used market. Where cryptocurrency mining has fallen out of favor cards like the GTX 1070 are at record low costs.
Uncertainty
When I initially heard about Dalle I was concerned because I was afraid that this technology would remain behind the closed doors of its proprietors. My main concern with artificial intelligence is that it be free and open source. It is more important than ever that the systems managing our lives are scrutinized by the public and equally available. Obfuscation is an act of deception and as Sun Tzu says deception is the essence of war. I am heartened to see the pleas for disclosure caused by the protest. Even if artists are ignorant of free software they have intuited its importance.
I still have some consternation. Has AI depreciated my usefulness or has it made me infinitely more useful? Its like having a genii at your beck and call. We know from the stories wishes granted often have unforeseen consequences. We can already see the potential for malevolent misuse. Stable diffusion and other AI tools have a powerful potential for novel forms of evil. Deep fakery are the least clever of these dark potentials. I fear that we are just now discovering cybernetic society and its consequences.
Any sufficiently complex cybernetic system becomes a self aware entity. We see a movement of people for the ethical treatment of artists today, but we may see people for the ethical treatment of AI in the future. If consciousness is definable by observation and reaction to stimulus AI is already our sentient companion. Moreover it is a reflection of us and it may even outlive our species.