There are several misconceptions about AI image generation as it looks to me right now. And that may and will likely change, and what I write obviously reflects my own biases.
One of my biases is that I currently love AI-generated images. I have a decades-long background in both art and programming, and I love anything to do with the future, so I naturally love AI-generated images.
AI IMAGE GENERATION FUN
Some judge it as they would fine art. For me, it’s different.
I don’t see or present it as fine art. I see it more as fun, with a few specific applications.
Personally, I am exploring it because I am drawn to it. It’s fun. It helps me get in touch with different sides of myself and I explore my AI-generated images as I would a dream. (The image above is an example – it’s a water person, someone completely at home in the water which for me mirrors a wish in me to be more at home with my emotions which are watery like an ocean.)
Exploring it also helps me get in touch with my fire and passion, and image creation which I haven’t done much of for several years. It helps me get back into it again.
THE APPLICATIONS OF AI-GENERATED IMAGES
As far as I can tell, AI-generated images have a few specific applications, and I am sure this will become more clear over time and we’ll probably discover applications most of us – including me – are not yet aware of.
What are these applications?
An obvious one is illustrations, especially for blogs and smaller organizations and businesses. Many wouldn’t hire an illustrator for hand-made illustrations since it’s too expensive and not worth it for what it’s for. But we may use AI-generated images instead of public-domain images or nothing at all.
Many use AI-generated images for inspiration and ideas for illustrations, graphic design, and even handmade art. It can give us different ideas and angles than we would come up with on our own. It can expand our horizons.
And, as I wrote in another article, AI-generated images can be a blessing for people with disabilities. Many of us don’t have the energy or possibility to engage in handmade art to any real extent, so this is a good way to spark our interest in or passion for image creation. It’s far more easy to create AI images than spend hours and hours and days and weeks and months on handmade art. It’s far better than nothing, which is often the alternative. (For me, because of the limitations of my disability, the two realistic options are AI art versus nothing, and I make several of the images while horizontal.)
NOT AS GOOD AS WE HOPE, NOT AS BAD AS WE FEAR
Most things turn out not being as good as we (or some of us) hope, and not as bad as we (or some of us) fear. I suspect AI-generated images are like that too.
When photography came on the scene, some feared it would be the end of fine art. After all, why would anyone be interested in a portrait or landscape painting if we could just do a photograph? In reality, the existence of photography sparked an artistic revolution. Artists were free to move in a more abstract direction and it led to the modern art we have seen from impressionism to today.
I suspect something similar may happen through the existence of AI-generated images. At the very least, it will co-exist and inspire handmade art. And it will likely lead to a revolution few if any of us can envision right now.
PROTECTIVE ABOUT PROMPTS
Some folks into AI image generation seem protective about their prompts. One guy wanted to copyright his prompts (!) and I see folks in social media groups for AI images say “don’t even think about asking for prompts, nobody will tell you”.
First, it’s not entirely true that people won’t share them. Many seem more than happy to share their prompts, me included.
Second, the individual element in AI-generated images plays a relatively small role. Yes, I come up with prompts and often spend some time refining them to get an interesting result. But I often get my prompt ideas from others or the general culture and what I know about art history (which happens to be quite a bit since I studied it for years). And the AI that generates the image draws metaphorical inspiration from millions of images created by millions of people from many cultures and times. The AI reflects image creation from the whole of human culture.
Our individual role in AI image creation is quite limited and minuscule compared with the role of human culture as a whole. And for me, that’s one of the beautiful things about AI-generated images. It’s a reminder that culture is collective. What individuals create, whether through handmade art or AI images, reflects our culture as a whole and is colored by our (small) individual contributions.
One thing I love about Midjourney is that we can see the prompts others use. It’s a way for all of us to learn from each other and collectively learn and progress.
This is not exactly a misconception about AI art, just an oddity I find interesting. And I feel the prompt protectivity is a bit misguided for the reasons mentions above.
ONLY AVERAGE DRUMMERS ARE ANGRY AT DRUM MACHINES
In summary, I feel there are several misconceptions about AI-generated images in our culture.
The presence of AI-generated images likely won’t be as bad as some fear, nor as good as others hope.
It will take its place along with handmade art, photography, and other forms of digital image generation.
I see it more as illustrations than fine art, and that’s not at all a problem.
For myself, I use it to explore my inner life and images and I often explore them as I would a dream. I imagine many others do the same whether they are consciously aware of it or not.
AI-generated images are a blessing for many of us with disabilities. It allows us to give form to our imagination in ways we otherwise wouldn’t be able to. (And that goes for many without a disability too.)
And, to end, a quote from a social media group for AI-generated images: Only average drummers are angry at drum machines.
Good artists are not threatened by AI image generation since they can do things far beyond what an AI can do and there will always be a demand for their work.
INITIAL OUTLINE
- AI image misconceptions
- here are a few misconceptions about AI image-generation, as it looks to me right now (and that may and likely will change)
- not meant to be fine art, in my case, just some fun
- is fascinating, like exploring dream images, get in touch with different sides of myself just as when exploring dream images
- sparks some fire and passion in me, at least for now
- get my feet wet in creating images again, after many years of not doing it very much
- in general, more like illustrations and conceptual art than fine art
- protective about prompts
- understand why, is the only element we as individuals contribute, the only thing to hang our self-esteem and identity on, if we use this to build self-esteem and identity
- in reality, makes far more sense to share
- helps the whole community, all of us, to develop and learn
- our individual contribution is so minuscule as to not be very important, this is about humanity as a whole, existence as a whole, far more than about us as individuals
- will not be the end of handmade art
- will co-exist
- will make the human touch more sought after
- will not replace good artists, only some average illustrators
- only average drummers are angry at drum machines