Good questions, Jason. Certainly the advent of AI image generation (not to mention chatbots) has us all thinking. I think art is very relevant and vital. I create AI images and purchase art created by human hands. I don't think either will stop.
As to the question of whether or not AI images are art, I think the answer is sometimes. If one is merely copying others' prompts or throwing out unthought out prompts, I question how much personal creative process goes into that.
But many of us take our talents as writers and our imaginations into our images, crafting them, sometimes through many iterations. We study the ways different technical additions to the prompts create different effects. We use other programs to edit our images. Are these art? I would say yes.
Just my perspective, but it is something I've given a lot of thought to. I'm interested to hear what other people think.
I think AI images can be art too. I think the question is ultimately how much soul is in something. Your images do seem to have a different quality than many that I see in my feed. I think AI can be used a tool, but I think too many people see it as a shortcut to making money from visual art or writing. Being an artist is more about the choices you make and less about the tools you use.
I agree on all points. Though I do use images within the context of trying to make a living (with laughable results tbh), my focus is on expressing my imagination through images a well as words. If an image occurs that I think might make a good t-shirt, I set it aside.
We seem to live in a culture that doesn't value art for its own sake. I think we're impoverished that way. At least some of us still love it for its expression and beauty
Feb 9, 2023·edited Feb 9, 2023Liked by Jason McBride
For me I create my art as a way to document personal history, feed my soul and have it act as an extension of self with which to befriend or enlighten others.
When I set out on putting the work into a Substack, I originally thought to make the content something that was topically relevant, like political cartoons. But after further consideration, I moved the subjects to be more personal and extraordinary. I spent much of the Bush years grinding out political cartoons and honestly it became tedious since the topics are so repetitive in US politics. Ergo why I chose the other direction for my Substack. I wanted to create something with more longevity and uniqueness.
Now that AI is quickly dividing art, music and writing into two camps of Human Created and Robot Created, where the AI creations are distinctly soulless, it's only a matter of time before political art and cartoons are AI generated since there are only so many well worn tropes used in it. (Think Corruption, Greed, Bigotry, etc.)
That's why I chose the far harder path of creating comics that strive for something completely different. I think ultimately it's only through that choice of following our personal stories will Human creation survive and thrive past the AI who only sees the world from within a box.
I think you are right that telling personal stories is the harder route, but ultimately the only way that human art will survive in the future. We all still want human connection and I don't believe AI will ever be good enough to foster that.
AI-generated political cartoons makes me laugh, not because it's funny, but because it's horrible and inevitable. I think some campaigns already use AI-generated email subject lines and calls to action.
Good questions, Jason. Certainly the advent of AI image generation (not to mention chatbots) has us all thinking. I think art is very relevant and vital. I create AI images and purchase art created by human hands. I don't think either will stop.
As to the question of whether or not AI images are art, I think the answer is sometimes. If one is merely copying others' prompts or throwing out unthought out prompts, I question how much personal creative process goes into that.
But many of us take our talents as writers and our imaginations into our images, crafting them, sometimes through many iterations. We study the ways different technical additions to the prompts create different effects. We use other programs to edit our images. Are these art? I would say yes.
Just my perspective, but it is something I've given a lot of thought to. I'm interested to hear what other people think.
I think AI images can be art too. I think the question is ultimately how much soul is in something. Your images do seem to have a different quality than many that I see in my feed. I think AI can be used a tool, but I think too many people see it as a shortcut to making money from visual art or writing. Being an artist is more about the choices you make and less about the tools you use.
I agree on all points. Though I do use images within the context of trying to make a living (with laughable results tbh), my focus is on expressing my imagination through images a well as words. If an image occurs that I think might make a good t-shirt, I set it aside.
We seem to live in a culture that doesn't value art for its own sake. I think we're impoverished that way. At least some of us still love it for its expression and beauty
For me I create my art as a way to document personal history, feed my soul and have it act as an extension of self with which to befriend or enlighten others.
When I set out on putting the work into a Substack, I originally thought to make the content something that was topically relevant, like political cartoons. But after further consideration, I moved the subjects to be more personal and extraordinary. I spent much of the Bush years grinding out political cartoons and honestly it became tedious since the topics are so repetitive in US politics. Ergo why I chose the other direction for my Substack. I wanted to create something with more longevity and uniqueness.
Now that AI is quickly dividing art, music and writing into two camps of Human Created and Robot Created, where the AI creations are distinctly soulless, it's only a matter of time before political art and cartoons are AI generated since there are only so many well worn tropes used in it. (Think Corruption, Greed, Bigotry, etc.)
That's why I chose the far harder path of creating comics that strive for something completely different. I think ultimately it's only through that choice of following our personal stories will Human creation survive and thrive past the AI who only sees the world from within a box.
I think you are right that telling personal stories is the harder route, but ultimately the only way that human art will survive in the future. We all still want human connection and I don't believe AI will ever be good enough to foster that.
AI-generated political cartoons makes me laugh, not because it's funny, but because it's horrible and inevitable. I think some campaigns already use AI-generated email subject lines and calls to action.
To quote Barretta, "You Can Take dat to the Bank, Jack." Email campaigns are definitely using AI right now.