BEYOND THE PROMPT

WHEN PHOTOSHOP WAS INVENTED AND DEVELOPED BACK IN THE DAY, MANY ARTISTS AND DESIGNERS FELT CHEATED OUT OF BUSINESS BECAUSE OF ‘A MACHINE’ - UNTIL THEY LEARNED TO MASTER THE PROGRAM, AND CREATED DESIGNS AND ARTWORK FOR TEHMSELVES, FOR CLIENTS, AND OTHER PURPOSES.

WHEN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ROSE TO THE SURFACE, AND ALSO TOUCHED UPON ART AND ARTISTS, THE SAME RESISTANCE AROSE. This is what we currently experience in many aspects of creating art, and in conversations with artists and designers. However, today’s visionary and brave designers know that fear is a bad advisor. They dare to have creative conversations with algorithms, and create things that they admit that they could never have thought of all by themselves.

Willingly interdependent

GETTING WILLINGLY INTO AN INTERDEPENDENT RELATIONSHIP WITH AI SOMETIMES LEADS TO WONDERFUL, AND SOMETIMES HORRENDOUS RESULTS. The algorithm can’t create without you, and you can make the algorithm do something that’s wholly directed by you. As a designer, you always have the power of setting boundaries, deciding what you want to proceed with, and what you’re willing to share with the world. However, when creating with AI, this power gets a bit corrupted, and that’s also where the opportunities pop up. Releasing some of your directive powers in the creative process actually leads to surprising results. Co-creating with AI is a kind of shock therapy for control freaks. If you’re a micromanager or someone who in some sense thinks you always know best, you’ll be unpleasantly surprised. Because how smart you may be - or think you may be - you can’t create something in interdependence without letting go of some (or much) of your control. If you’re unwilling to do this, please go back to Photoshop, and go master the (wonderful) skill of image editing. If you’re willing to get over yourself, AI might just be a great adventure for you.

No, AI will not kill your job - unless you’re not really creative

Some artists, illustrators and visual creators feel threatened. Afraid that their jobs will become obsolete. Because Spotify (and other platforms) and creators already use AI to generate visual materials such as album covers, sales page visuals, advertisements, and much more. And now, the holy realm of ART seems to have been hijacked. Fearful thoughts such as “Will My Work Be Obsolete, And Therefore My Talent And Livelihood?” can creep in. But thoughts like these aren’t helpful, and aren’t really new either. Some artists and designers got anxiety about software and Instagram filters as well, in earlier days. Did Photoshop get creative minds to lose their livelihood? No. Did Instagram get creative minds to lose their livelihood? Au contraire.

ON THIS PAGE, I SHARE SOME OF MY OWN CREATION THAT I CREATED, IN CONVERSATION WITH AI. I consider this entanglement with AI as being sometimes uncomfortable, interesting, triggering, and it keeps me on my toes. Furthermore, creating pieces might trigger an emotional rollercoaster of some kind. Being less able (than a machine!) to paint a picture, or to reorganise pixels in a particular way, can trigger feelings of inadequacy, imposter syndrome, and other challenging mind bogglers. However, if we look beyond the ego, and move towards curiosity and truly having a conversation with something we don’t really know we could trust, it bolsters a feeling of adventure, courage, and joy. It sure beats defeatism or cynicism.

These artworks are my personal property, you can’t use them for your own aims without my consent. Click to see larger images.

Are you interested in one or more prints of one or more artworks, or would you like to publish one or more images on your website? Reach out to me. Are you a participant in one of the Brave Changemakers programs? You know what to do.