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This is a normal post good thing I got my happytoast t shirts already

(I helped save b3ta! simbosan is too tired, Thu 20 Apr 2023, 4:37, Reply)
This is a normal post I suspect they're aiming to capitalise on the absolute fucking tidal wave of ultra low-effort AI 'art' that's started flooding the marketplace.
Where there's muck, there's brass.

That being said, it seems a bit unfair to lump all the legitimate artists and designers with such an astronomical tax just to benefit from the AI crowd. There's probably going to be some adjustment to the terms over the next few weeks I reckon.

This whole AI 'revolution' really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
 (Tony Hayers DEFUND THE POLICE, Thu 20 Apr 2023, 6:36, Reply)
This is a normal post The best part is the established artists who have gone full Quisling in order to not be branded old-fashioned and irrelevant.
"It's just another tool, and it frees me from boring labour so I can devote my time to higher pursuits like concept and style choice." Yes, because a client will still want to pay you for something they can easily do themselves.
 (I helped save b3ta! Turtle Power & Knuckles, Thu 20 Apr 2023, 8:09, Reply)
This is a normal post Yeah, I've started seeing a lot of
"Well, I generated the base image via AI, but then I touched it up a little in Photoshop which means that the final product is very much my own."

Load of fucking shite, but I suspect we're stuck with it now - especially as the algorithms/NN's continually improve and it becomes more and more difficult to distinguish computer generated output from actual human artistry. Looks like things are very quickly beginning to go that way with Music and Literature, too.

I suppose we could hope that the majority continue to value authenticity over aesthetic. But I reckon we're fucked in that regard as well.
 (Tony Hayers DEFUND THE POLICE, Thu 20 Apr 2023, 8:30, Reply)
This is a normal post It's the equivalent of subcontracting your work to another person and then taking the credit.
1. Draw a house freehand.
2. Draw a house using a ruler so your edges are a bit straighter and things line up.
3. Draw a house after constructing a base grid on the page with measurements and vanishing points.
4. Draw a house after blocking out the structure using a 3D package and outputting an image as basically a very advanced base grid, complete with lens curvature and angle of view. But you have still made all the choices and done all the groundwork yourself.
5. Tell a computer to draw you a house, using prompts that you know will get an appropriate output. It will probably ape someone else's style without their permission, and look slightly "off" if you spend any time studying it.

Levels 1 to 4 are art, using varying amounts of assistance to save time and get everything as technically correct as possible. Level 5 is briefing another individual to do the art for you.
 (I helped save b3ta! Turtle Power & Knuckles, Thu 20 Apr 2023, 18:22, Reply)
This is a normal post Ancient artists working with twigs and dirt may have scoffed at the development of charcoal, brushes and dyes, hammers and chisels, etc., etc.
Progress can feel like cheating to those whose status and sense of purpose is rendered obsolete by new technology.

I'm frankly amazed by some AI music I've heard. I'm excited to work with AI music tools, and I'm excited to work with AI visual art tools too, once they become, you know, good. Contextual selection tools would be so useful and time-saving. Typing (or speaking) instructions to perform laborious and repetitive tasks would be wonderful.

I understand the fear surrounding AI, but right now I'm quite optimistic about it all. Without AI this could be a lonely galaxy. If we can't have the Star Trek future at least we can have Battlestar Galactica.
 (I helped save b3ta! brb Monkhouse Stampede, Thu 20 Apr 2023, 19:28, Reply)
This is a normal post Except that the charcoal and brushes replacing the twigs and dirt would be regarded as a refinement/progression of the artistic media an entirely different technique to produce said art.
An argument could certainly be made that a traditional artist's status will eventually be rendered obsolete by AI, but only because the vast majority of consumers are looking at the final product and give not a shit about the process involved.
The same goes for AI music. The tracks that I've heard have been astonishingly authentic (although, considering that contemporary pop and rap are already based largely upon algorithms and largely written/produced by third parties, it's not that much of a leap).
Either way, I wouldn't really regard it as progress. Especially if the value of human art is subsequently depreciated.
 (Tony Hayers DEFUND THE POLICE, Fri 21 Apr 2023, 7:16, Reply)
This is a normal post Music is one area where AI is yet to impress beyond it sounding 'authentic'
but this will certainly improve. AI will eventually be able to emulate the creative process without having to rely on human input for good ideas .

There might be a backlash against AI generated art, with people using authenticated human body fluids to paint on cave walls.
 (I helped save b3ta! Mudface The web isn't callipygian, Fri 21 Apr 2023, 11:54, Reply)
This is a normal post I remember reading a blog post by a pixel artist
showing you their thought processes in designing a simple game graphic. Stage one looked okay (a point where many people would think it was finished - the sort of thing AI can generate), but then they tidied it up and stylised it so by the end it was undeniably a far superior image.

I wish I could find that post, because AI art always seems to be at the "it looks about right" stage, when the real depth of knowledge seems to come after that. The article really made you focus on the subtleties of such work.

Whilst AI art tools are impressive/scary, it does seem another massive leap for it to understand creativity in any way. By design, it feels like it will always head toward the average, when interesting art needs something unique.
 (I helped save b3ta! monkeon schmonkeon, Fri 21 Apr 2023, 12:49, Reply)
This is a normal post
I wonder if growing up in an age where most imagery has been generated by AI will further blind people to the flaws of AI art, not unlike the way many have become deaf to the lifelessness of autotuned vocals in pop
 (I helped save b3ta! Mudface The web isn't callipygian, Fri 21 Apr 2023, 21:15, Reply)
This is a normal post It only has to be good enough to 'fool' us,
like a mimic in nature only has to look close enough to the real thing from the perspective of its prey. I think it could do this within a decade, and without achieving/suffering consciousness. Plants can mimic.
 (I helped save b3ta! brb Monkhouse Stampede, Sat 22 Apr 2023, 0:17, Reply)
This is a normal post In nature mimicry exists in the context of the 4 Fs
And when it comes to matters of life and death, evolution seems to favour erring on the side of caution.

My point was about the effect of exposure on aesthetic preferences
 (I helped save b3ta! Mudface The web isn't callipygian, Sat 22 Apr 2023, 5:47, Reply)
This is a normal post If you look at movies or music now
and how they use things like cgi or autotune, then you can see both interesting use, practical use, and lazy use. The good stuff is still there.

Unfortunately the lazy use seems the most popular with the public, though.
 (I helped save b3ta! monkeon schmonkeon, Sat 22 Apr 2023, 9:14, Reply)
This is a normal post Very few people ever gave a shit about the process involved in anything. Most of those who find out wish they hadn't.
See also the history of tea, cotton/clothing, the food industry, etc.

IMO an artificial intelligence producing art does nothing to devalue art produced by a biological intelligence, and vice versa. The widespread availability of previously archaic elite knowledge doesn't devalue the product of that knowledge to me. It may diminish the value of the previously privileged elite's skill set in an economic sense, but that will hopefully matter less and less as we head towards post-capitalist Utopia.
 (I helped save b3ta! brb Monkhouse Stampede, Fri 21 Apr 2023, 19:59, Reply)
This is a normal post The price tag of this rabbit suggests people do care about the process when it comes to art

(I helped save b3ta! Mudface The web isn't callipygian, Fri 21 Apr 2023, 21:43, Reply)
This is a normal post It suggests all kinds of things about the crossover between auction houses, art dealers, advertising moguls and hedge funds too.
There's an awful lot of human art sold for 99p or less.
 (I helped save b3ta! brb Monkhouse Stampede, Sat 22 Apr 2023, 0:11, Reply)
This is a normal post I think the concept/style argument has some truth.
Most people can't do that very well, and just copy existing work.

However, 99% of work that pays the bills is copying and grunt work, which it does seem very good at.
 (I helped save b3ta! monkeon schmonkeon, Thu 20 Apr 2023, 9:01, Reply)
This is a normal post That’s going to make paying the bills harder.

(I helped save b3ta! wheresthefish Partly filled with wrong, Thu 20 Apr 2023, 19:23, Reply)
This is a normal post But mass unemployment is considered progress.
Maybe everybody's next job could be fixing the machines that made them redundant. An exciting future awaits!
 (I helped save b3ta! Turtle Power & Knuckles, Thu 20 Apr 2023, 21:01, Reply)
This is a normal post Which doesn’t actually mean
“Yay, I can get AI to do my grunt work!”; it means that whoever needs the grunt work done will say “Yay, now I don’t have to piss about with expensive illustrators to get grunt work done”.

Not only that, but the person that uses the AI instead of hiring you won’t be saying “phew, I’m glad I’ve found a programme to create images for me” - instead that person will be saying “wow, I’m very good at art. Why did I ever bother paying illustrators and designers when I’m actually great at it, now I have this tool!”
 (clinteastwoodbradfield, Fri 21 Apr 2023, 11:24, Reply)
This is a normal post Not sure if I was being unclear,
but my point about grunt work was that it is a bad thing for creatives who need the boring work to fund the good work, and it will steal that work, not provide any good work. However, Photoshop has been doing that for years with each new feature it adds.

It's the smaller "time-saving" tools rather than the type-in-a-prompt-and-I'll-do-everything tools that seem the bigger problem in that regard.

Regarding “wow, I’m very good at art. Why did I ever bother paying illustrators and designers when I’m actually great at it, now I have this tool!” - there is a point where AI art just looks like placeholder shit, and it's likely going to be easier for a designer to start from scratch than try and salvage something, should they want the artwork to look professional.

I see it as the same as Wix is to web development. It gets you to a certain point, but without acquiring any skills along the way. The best you can hope for is mediocrity if you don't understand any of the details.
 (I helped save b3ta! monkeon schmonkeon, Fri 21 Apr 2023, 12:28, Reply)