Art Director Perspectives - AI and Industry Jobs

[@fowlerillus]

Crazy right? I was surprised by a lot of these answers in a good way. While this is a pretty positive batch of perspectives, let me be clear, I wish AI image generators could be uninvented. Enormous ethical outrage aside, I just hate what a bummer this all is and how it can sap all of the fun and excitement out of our favorite thing if we let it. Personally, (whether it’s logical or not) I’m just kind of over it - it could be false confidence, hopium or just worry exhaustion - but I say let’s get back to work and make things that are cool. I wanted to make this as a quick check in video and I wanted to show up with some actual industry perspectives and not just my opinions and future gazing. I hope you found this helpful and encouraging. All art/painting/tutorial videos from me in the months ahead! Now go paint something awesome :)

[@Tetheredpencil]

I don't think AI image generation should be uninvented in general. It can be useful to do a lot of things like create architectural designs or medical charts etc. The problem is that corporations don't want to just use it as a tool but rather as a replacement for labour. In art creation I, personally, don't really think that AI is needed, so I wouldn't be sad if it stopped in that regard.

[@ashfield4313]

"Be smarter than the person typing the prompt" is a fantastic tip. It also shouldn't be difficult given that the person typing the prompt lacks the inherent discipline and motivation that is required of a genuine artist. This is where the years of studying color theory, visual storytelling, and the drive to "know how to do the thing" comes into play. AI for the foreseeable future lacks the ability to add deliberate nuance that would be useful to a project, that cohesiveness that's not randomness, but just tasteful permutations on a topic.

[@fowlerillus]

I love this perspective. Thanks!

[@JoeyStrombolli]

I'm really grateful for videos like this. I was on the verge of going to college for a career path that doesn't interest me whatsoever, soley because I thought of art previously as just a hobby. For me its more than that, it is what keeps me going in life. And I'm sure this is true for a lot of other people out there. And so I decided to pursue it more seriously. Videos like this are important because they give hope to aspiring artists like myself who are concerned about AI. Thanks a million for the wonderful videos like this Hardy, they keep me going, truly thank you.

[@fowlerillus]

I'm glad to hear that Joey. Honestly, I think AI potentially equally threatens just about any other college major (we have just been on the front line which I found incredibly surprising) so I think you are wise to follow your gut and go for what you truly want. For what it's worth, one of my sons is an artist and will likely pursue this as a career so I'm giving the same advice to my own family as I would a stranger.

[@vampireantihero]

This was really encouraging to watch, thank you for taking the time to interview these art directors and give us a taste of what's going on out there in the industry.

[@fowlerillus]

Thank you my friend! I'm so glad this was helpful :)

[@ebenschumacherart3694]

Thanks for this one Hardy, appreciate you taking the time to craft a thoughtful and well-researched answer to this. These days I pretty much stick my head in the sand and just keep drawing but in doing so I also miss a lot about what isn’t going wrong. I can confirm that I have seen it creep into the mood boarding side of things at my job, but the attitude is still largely dismissive, and certainly none of it is directly used in production. And having learned more about art direction over the past couple of years, I can say with confidence that it requires a clear vision of mood, concept, and world-building that AI cannot, and perhaps never will be able you provide.

[@fowlerillus]

Hey Eben! Man, I'm really glad to hear that from you. I'm with you on the head in the sand plan - for a while there I was doom scrolling on this topic way too much and I decided to step back from that which has been a great move BUT I feel like we need to keep one eye on it as you said. I hope you're doing well and thanks for checking this out.

[@TylerEdlin84]

Great video glad to hear all this

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks Tyler. I appreciate it!

[@paulhiggins5165]

Perhaps the more subtle threat of AI is not the replacement of the Artist as 'technician' in terms of the actual production of the images but the replacement of artistic judgement throughout the entire process. Who, after all, are the real advocates for quality in almost all creative pipelines? That would be the Artists themselves. It's those employed to create assetts that usually push the envelopes of quality and originality, sometimes to the frustration of those more focused on the bottom line. But what happens when those creatives are replaced with AI? It's not just their technical expertise that is lost, it's also their broader aesthetic influence on the entire project. What makes AI imagery so seductive to the non creative is that it seems to offer a way to more quickly and cheaply achieve the same results as using human creatives- you just type in a prompt and like magic a fully realised image appears in seconds! Now there may in fact be all sorts of problems with that image, in terms of it's relationship to other assets, or how it may or may not contribute to the story being told by the project as a whole- but who is now left to point these things out? In dispensing with the artist as technician you may have also thrown away something else, something that you may not have even realised you needed- which is that broader overview of what your images were intended to express. If Art is ultimately about communication and we replace artists with machines, who then, is really in charge of what is communicated?

[@fowlerillus]

Amazing points and perspectives here. Thanks Paul. I can definitely imagine this problem affecting all kinds of AI implementation into our lives

[@ywlumaris]

This is definitely encouraging, thank you for taking the time to ask these questions to art directors. It helps a lot 💜

[@fowlerillus]

You're welcome! I'm glad this was helpful!

[@chloep5817]

I graduated art school at the very beginning of this whole mess and its been very discouraging for me and my classmates. BUT none of us have stopped drawing, and I've been making a lot of awesome friends in the indie scene, too. I think this is all great news to hear, and even if the going gets more rough we still have a pencil. Don't stop drawing

[@storymaxart]

I'm starting watching. Been waiting whole week for this - seriously, can't wait to see what's inside. Its hard to find an art director take on this - it's great you got round to it and interviewed them. That's rare material in our community (or I just don't know where to look) And so weird it has only 2k views so far, it's a HOT DAMN TOPIC

[@fowlerillus]

I'm glad this was helpful! Yeah, these talking head videos are less enjoyable to watch in my opinion so I didn't expect this one to get a huge view count. Back to the fun stuff for my next video :)

[@tb8865]

As a new-ish Freelance illustrator (working since 2021) I haven't noticed a significant dropoff in work. That said, rates have been the same, and money doesn't go nearly as far these days.

[@fowlerillus]

Well I'm glad that work has remained steady but sorry that wages are stagnant. That is a tough thing these days

[@taniatigris]

Those AI coming in from everywhere have been my greatest fear since they started to emerge. And I still have some concerns that AI may replace human being in terms of digital art. I even considered to move into traditional field and learn painting oil on canvas: most certainly AI is unable to produce any real, non-digital thing. But your video, Hardy, and similar videos from other artists about the AI issue is doing great job of encouraging and offering a helping hand in moments when one think that everything is over in one's career. And now I see that AI is not that allmighty as it seemed. Huge thanks!

[@fowlerillus]

I'm so glad :)

[@runnergunner42]

Love to hear about the state of the industry in this series, looking forward to hearing about more topics as well. I can't stomach the idea of using AI for idea and concept generation for a multitude of reasons but it sounds like the industry agrees and is favouring using it to communicate ideas to the client faster. The ethics of the entire business model make it a no-go for me but it does sound like the industry is settling into a fairly artist-first relationship with AI which I can definitely support. Ultimately I think artists positioning themselves as an 'AI artist' are going to enter into the biggest race to the bottom in the industries history whereas people who develop their traditional skillset will always be more valuable.

[@fowlerillus]

Really great points about market forces and general attitudes. I've been really encouraged by that - those who make games and movies are often artists themselves (at least at heart) and seem to genuinely care about that human connection. Thanks for your perspectives

[@hunteriadkins]

I really appreciate you taking the time to make this video, Hardy. AI is a controversial topic these days, and I am very glad to have you shed light on a realistic, professional outlook of AI in the industry and whether it is even realistic to pursue Art as a career. While this video is extremely reassuring and makes me feel more optimistic about the future of artists still being at the forefront of the industry, it still leads me to question the vague aspect of some of the art directors' responses using AI as a tool for mood-boarding and iteration purposes. Do you see AI in that aspect still replacing artists as that work would have likely been done by a concept artist in the past, or is that something that we will have to worry less about as, as you stated, those companies still use artists for the final production result? Thank you again for the video, it is very motivating to see as a pursuing artist.

[@fowlerillus]

Great question and that one caught my eye too but that is an example of an area where work that might have gone to a hired concept artist was done by AI. However, when budgets are very limited mood boards and even pitch decks often have art grabbed from the internet just to get very early ideas of what they want to build. In those cases, it doesn't really seem like a job was lost, just AI stuff replacing google images. I really can't say for sure how disruptive this will end up being but I'm enormously encouraged by my own experiences and the artists around me in these first two years and I mainly wanted to share that. There is plenty to be concerned about with AI (honestly, I think all desk jobs will eventually be having their existential crisis like we have been recently) but so far so good - still standing!

[@sateiitenatural]

thank you for the hope 💜

[@pondeify]

this is actually dangerous - a young person might watch this video and decide to purpose their career in this area when actually it's has no future, we all know that. most of the human work will be outsourced to cheap locations

[@fowlerillus]

You're welcome. Glad this was helpful

[@fowlerillus]

I'm really sorry you feel that way. For what it's worth, my own son is an artist and wants to have an art career when he grows up - I fully encourage that and I believe he will achieve that goal. The world he grows into will be different from today but I believe there will be a value and a need for artists and craft even in the most dystopian of AI predictions. Hoping for the best for artists and the many other intellectual careers that this will disrupt.

[@Ironwill_Games]

There’s two sides to this answer. 1. AI usage isn’t regulated (yet) so a lot of companies still feel they’re in shaky waters when it comes to the usage of others IP’s or Content cause if the law changes they could get sued and lose millions. The other one is, for now, AI is mostly used on the pitch or moodboard phase of a project but the reality is voice AI is now tumbling increasingly on videogames and other media (ence the backlash by VAs). I feel in the future, just as any technology, it’s going to be (hopefully) ethically and morally incorporated in the workflow of a project but I don’t think it’s going to kill artists just by existing. We have stop motion pictures when 3D is here, we have artisans who make stuff with their hands when we can buy pretty much anything pre-made at IKEA. The human component is and always will be the main ingredient to any creation and we as humans will always feel empathy for any human artist more than a factory, a machine or any software. Great video, thanks for sharing!

[@fowlerillus]

Great perspectives - thanks for this.

[@piorism]

I wouldn't trust any AD using AI "just for moodboards", because the moodboard phase is precisely the time when the team can share and discuss their influences, chat about unexpected or obscure references that others may not know about, and so on. Replacing this important phase with AI just because it gets to a pretty collage faster (without any way to go back to the actual source art) is IMHO missing the point of moodboarding entirely. If an AD finds that making a moodboard with AI is faster than doing it by hand that just means that they don't know enough about their field and the references that would be relevant to the project. It is also a huge insult to the artists who will then be asked to work from it.

[@fowlerillus]

I hear you on this - it does seem like a lot gets lost when shortcuts like this are taken.

[@hgsupertramp]

Nice video! It's good to see how the use of AI in all stages of production is almost seen as a disease by most directors. There's an ethical, moral and philosophical problem which AI will not get rid of anytime soon. I shared this on X(but could't tag you).

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks. It's an interesting time for the industry to be sure and I've been more encouraged than I was expecting back in 2022.

[@joehynes2964]

As someone who went to art school in the 90s and watched the classic illustration profession crater in the face of the digital revolution (so many of the big illustrators of the time had to move to gallery work), I think AI will be an even bigger threat to the human touch in art. Once they work out the licensing and mitigate the threat of IP litigation, it will be off to the races for large AAA/creative companies. I think it's tragically unavoidable.

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks for the perspectives. That would be a sad result indeed.

[@Tetheredpencil]

Imagine AI + advanced and monetarily approachable 3d printing. AI creates the image and the 3d printer produces it in oil for example.

[@morgantorium]

@@Tetheredpencil I've been in the process of pivoting to traditional art because the customer base tends to value the human touch so highly. I hope that what you're describing wouldn't become a reality due to lack of demand.

[@Tetheredpencil]

@@morgantorium I hope so as well because I too am a traditional artist.

[@marcofabro]

Thank you for this video Hardy. Last couple of years ive been in a real art slump and one of the major reasons is AI. Maybe the future is not so grim.

[@fowlerillus]

I'm really glad - that's what I was hoping the takeaway would be here. Keep making cool stuff! :)

[@audiogus2651]

I used it at a small company in mobile games since the end of 2021. Started with Disco Diffusion and Nightcafe for generating textures. Now I can use it to stub out 3D models for AA and AAA. It really is going to be standard to use it.

[@fowlerillus]

Good to get this perspective - thanks

[@audiogus2651]

@@fowlerillus tried to send you a link to a video where I talked about using it 3 years ago but I think YT nukes links, ahh well

[@tripplejaz]

Hey Hardy, we've used AI in some of the work I've been a part of. It never makes it to the final product and almost serves as placeholder or to quickly iterate on compositions. Like the other AD mentioned, either mood board generation or helpful composition reference for me to create something. For example, quickly putting together a series of compositions in a fisheye or worm's eye view, it was helpful to have some AI images handy for reference. I'm sort of at the mercy of my own AD and CD to do their bidding, but I've pushed back at times and said "I'm going to start with basic black and white sketches by hand" to make sure 1. I don't get rusty and 2. Keep the artist hand present in the work I help with.

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks Joe, great to get perspectives from a pro like yourself and I totally get that - we have to go with the flow of the team.

[@kellyishikawa]

Thank you so much for this video!

[@fowlerillus]

Glad it was helpful!

[@CiliosX]

I want to point out that a few months ago Treyarch posted a job listing on ArtStation that specifically called for artist to fix AI generated illustrations and assets.

[@fowlerillus]

I didn't see that one but I'm sure that will be a relatively common thing. Thanks for the heads up

[@HalfWarrior]

Thank you Hardy👍🏻🫡

[@fowlerillus]

My pleasure. I'm glad you found this useful!

[@OrFennSchuller]

As a storyboard artist that work mostly for animation, I experiment with AI image gens but so far I have not incorporated them in my workflow. The output they make is not what my job requires.

[@fowlerillus]

Good to know! Thanks for your perspectives on this - I hadn't heard anything from that side of the industry and I'm glad to hear it

[@EscanV]

I personally feel AI like Midjourney is very much an ideas tool, especially when youre designing and creating pieces almost 12 hours a day everyday, you tend to get designer block. I use those tools for inspiration essentially. Sometimes to blur pieces out upload them and ask ai to change moods etc. I just call it... "my brain is tired i need some motivation tool". I do sometimes just use it for fun... like make me into Batman or Iron man etc. But... they say anyone can use AI art these days... well... to create some wild insane far out stuff you have to become skilled in prompts as well.

[@ghost-pages]

I don't even see the point in using AI for ideas when it can only give a worse, messy version of other artist's work... why would you not just go look yourself? And be inspired for way more, instead of taking a lazier, worse route? I would be very embarrassed if I worked my ass off developing my own skills, to have my input shrugged off in favour of whatever the AI threw together. And of course, spend all my time fixing what it messed up.

[@fowlerillus]

Right on. The tools seem really clumsy currently too (which is likely to change). It seems to give you loads of weird stuff that is ok but not really what you need

[@artistdq]

From one artist to the next thanks for your view on AI .

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks, I appreciate that

[@SkoobasArt]

Art Director 5 is a champ 💪 lemme support those projects

[@fowlerillus]

Yes, I really liked those answers too :)

[@aneebartist7207]

I am still curious and trying to learn real digital painting process, because Using AI art is like buying some stock artwork and labeling your name on it.

[@darasto2023]

From personal experience it's already widely used in board games with overpainting slop outputs and fantasy book covers, plenty of those sadly.

[@fowlerillus]

Ah gotcha. Thanks for letting us know

[@ZephrusPrime]

I was hoping that AI would be useful for creating new pipeline tools. All I want is a "Make Animatable Topology and UV's" button and that's it! I love everything else about the process and live to do it myself. Outside of that, AI is a hard NO for me.

[@fowlerillus]

I hear that, and I share your mix of hopes and concerns.

[@aneebartist7207]

If directors or big companies replace artists with the help of AI, artists together can replace directors and big companies and get directions from ChatGPT or concepts or stories, etc., and merge to create some masterpieces with the help of AI. Then everyone can be big companies with AI.

[@darion5757]

Hi, I have an unusual question, I was wondering what do you use when it comes to payment system when ppl hire you? I know it's maybe a bit personal or sth but Paypal seemes not to good, it takes a portion of your money

[@fowlerillus]

Yeah there are pros and cons to each payment method. I often use PayPal or others like Wise but they do take a fee which sucks but these platforms offer security when you are working with a client for the first time and you need to establish trust. Venmo falls into this category as well. For trusted clients, I often set up a bank transfer or accept a check by mail but these methods can put you at scam risk so make sure it's legit before agreeing to either. It is wise to setup an LLC and have a dedicated bank account just for your business so that you aren't risking your broader finances when engaging with a new client. I hope that is helpful!

[@darion5757]

@fowlerillus thanks for the response!I forgot to mention that I'm not from the US, so unfortunately I think PayPal is still the most universal way then. I was thinking about Revolut too, but I don't know if it's common in the US

[@darion5757]

I know Im asking a lot of questions but this one is really important. I would like to work as a concept artist in the near future but the problem is, i dont know if a Bachelor is needed to be hired at bigger companies. I have a hard time finding an university, full online courses in english and im worried that I won't find any. So my question is, do you have a degree and is it important to have one?

[@fowlerillus]

This is a tough question and I'm not sure if I truly know the answer. College has gotten insanely expensive in recent decades and it's tough to know if the value matches the current cost. For my part, I got a BFA in graphic design but by the time I graduated, I didn't really feel ready to work. That was likely both my fault (I was kind of a slacker student) and the program where I studied just wasn't great. I went on to get a masters degree in medical illustration and that was fantastic - that was real professional training. Now, do you need to do all of that to become successful as a concept artist? Maybe not, but my inclination is that a college degree is a leg up in life and provides lots of benefits and experiences beyond just the degree. As a father of two, I'll be very much encouraging college and even postgraduate study for both of them (one wants to be an artist too!). The flip side of this is that online education has gotten truly fantastic and competitive with even the best art schools so perhaps a bit of both will be a good way to get the best of both worlds. It all comes time to maximizing what benefit you get for the money you invest in your future. I hope that's somewhat helpful. Good luck!

[@darion5757]

@fowlerillus thanks for the answer, it helped a lot actually! I was so focused on trying to find a collage with Concept Art degree specifically, but now I know it's not necessary to get this particular one. No more stressing about it!

[@ppppp524]

To understand the limits of AI art, think of Seraphim in One Piece. These are characters with golden irises and cross shaped pupils. With brown skin and white hair. With small black angel wings with a fire burning between them. And with one segment of their arm being a hollow glass tube filled with green liquid. AI would never be able to get the design right. There are too many unique character traits that aren't in the training data. And it certainly wouldn't be able to get the design right across multiple generations. And that's the limitation of AI art. It can make genuinely good illustrations that can win an art competition. But it can't create a genuinely good illustration that you want, if what you want is specific and must follow a consistent kind of unique logic for your character or illustration.

[@tensaazzangetsu8684]

hii did you romove videos on udemy i cant find your lessons I had missing courses.

[@fowlerillus]

Hi! Yes, unfortunately I have left Udemy. The courses that were there are available as part of the Skillbuilder package on digital painting studio or some are on Skillshare. Skillshare often has sales so the better deal can vary from month to month. Thanks for your interest and reach out if you need anything.

[@Tijaxtolan]

Is there anything like an organization pushing back against ai "art" where we can participate or donate money to?

[@ebenschumacherart3694]

Yes, the Concept Art Association is leading the charge there, and they have a Go Fund Me page that is going towards legal action and supporting artists

[@fowlerillus]

Eben beat me to it. They have great resources and advocacy options. It is led by Karla Ortiz who is a legit hero for our community and you can donate to support their efforts. They are hiring lobbyists and helping to drive legislation to govern the ethical use of image generators. I've heard Karla and Steven Zapata refer to this situation as a boulder rolling down a hill - we can't stop it, but we can nudge it in a less harmful direction. This is definitely the cause to back if you're inclined.

[@DukePaints]

In my opinion this is what AI was made for, research, it does a lot of the teeth pulling tasks so theres more time to make the best art possible

[@fowlerillus]

Definitely - you can see the ways that this could be used to avoid mundane and repetitive tasks

[@AbramHadnot]

I’ve lost hope in both the human element as much as the a.i element in the art industry. I’m going to do my own thing with personal projects

[@fowlerillus]

Sorry to hear that but I get it. Make art for yourself - this stuff is meant to be good for the soul after all.

[@GrimdarkKing]

It’s highly unlikely that there is going to be a ban on training of AI models with publicly available work. Things run together and in this instance the thing that would do the running along side such a ban would be…collage. Collage is the “taking” of other people’s creative work and smashing to together to create something new. No permission is asked and none is needed. And everyone understands this because everyone for the last 100 years has done collage and in elementary school. So all the the defending attorneys would have to do would be to point this out in a court room. “Members of the jury…you have all done collage. You have all cut out copyrighted pictures from magazines as a child and pasted them together to make something new. You didn’t ask permission and according to fair use…you didn’t NEED to ask permission. And truthfully…professional collage artists exist today…and make a living selling their work. If you ban the fair use creative “taking” of existing work to make new transformative works…these collage artists would be banned as well. Such a ruling would have to apply to the goose just as much as the gander. I’m guessing the plaintiffs wouldn’t want THAT. Which proves what we all know to be true. They want to play “picking and choosing”. They want to be the gatekeepers. THOSE people over there are FINE to take and used…because we like and approve of collage artists . And they conveniently don’t represent a threat to our income. But THOSE people over there doing something similar. Well they need to be stopped and prevented. Because they DO represent a threat to our income. We need to use the power of law to keep them OUT. We need to engage in protectionism . We need to protect IS at the expense of those who would like to use this new technology. That is their position. They have used emotional language like “soulless” and “artists are the keepers of humanity’s creativity” to engender sympathy as they plot to run out their competition. They want to kill the baby in the cradle. Imagine if the oil painters had been able to kill photography in the cradle back in the day. Nearly nobody can afford thousands of dollars for an oil painting of their family. But nearly everyone CAN afford to get family photos taken. Even if it’s just from the person at their church who does it on the weekends for $150. So yes friends. We ask you to reject the plaintiffs case and to ensure that both collage artists, the AI companies, and everyone else who enjoys the current protections of fair use continue to enjoy those benefits. Fair use has had more and more encroachments over the years…we don’t need to enshrine any more into law.” That will be their case. And sing every juror will have made collage and thus it will have been PERSONAL for them…finding in favor of the Anti AI litigants will be felt as a personal incrimination. They would be calling their own collage efforts…illegal and immoral. And nobody likes to think of themselves that way. And they will side in favor of the AI companies. I think we can all see that it’s almost assuredly going to go that way.

[@fowlerillus]

Definitely an insanely complex legal and ethical conundrum. Hoping for a result that serves the greater good

[@ghost-pages]

Also, I think it destroys collaboration. How is a traditional artist going to bounce ideas off of someone if they can't even conceive of it? Imagine if everything had to grind to a halt for someone to generate some ideas because they're too insecure of their own. Exercise the meat in your head, you need that thing!!

[@fowlerillus]

Agreed! Thanks - great points.

[@pibyte]

The reactions are nice ... but in the end it all comes down to ethics vs profits ... and we all know how that is going to play out.

[@fowlerillus]

Yeah I definitely understand what you mean there. My hope is that this will take shape in a way where the two are not mutually exclusive but time will certainly tell for artists and most professions. It's going to be a weird decade to be a human

[@VanguardSupreme]

Before watching the video, I suspect an art director worth their salt would be even more opposed to AI-generated…content than a typical artist. After all, they’re the ones these AI bros fancy themselves to be, the only difference being that art directors tend to have actually earned their place. In my view, an art director doesn’t necessarily have to be the most skilled or talented artist in the room, but I would be very wary indeed of taking direction from -someone- some dope who thinks they can merely prompt their way to artistic achievement. However, at the end of the day in the coming dystopia, it may not be an art director’s final say-so. If they’re just a part of a highly commercial venture and leadership above them is myopic and inclined towards corner-cutting, they may be forced into a more AI-driven direction or even possibly replaced by some AI-infatuated hack.

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks for this. That's a great point that the art directors themselves are likely not going to drive a push toward AI but those decision makers at the executive level.

[@VanguardSupreme]

​@@fowlerillus Thanks, man! Even in the worst cases of AI overreach, I like to think many of decisions will have to be reversed in the longer term when the AI gold rush dies down and a lot of the ill-conceived AI-driven workflows turn out to be fool's gold that fails to deliver on much of its promise. Or maybe AI "art" will turn out to be the magic solution its pushers claim it is, who knows? Anyway, great video. I'll be tuning in for more for sure.

[@idgeek]

so far, AI image cant be copy righted. End of discussion as far as commercial art business.

[@fowlerillus]

Yeah, that is super important

[@pawnzrtasty]

Thankfully I don’t need to use my art to make money. I don’t post anything either. I do feel bad for artists that do work in the field. Ai will only continue to grow. It’s not going anywhere.

[@fowlerillus]

I watched a demo from Craig Mullins at Lightbox and he was largely of the same mind. Not really because of AI but he was telling everyone not to use art to make money because it would turn something you love into something ugly. He was a really interesting speaker. You're totally right, it's not like this tech is going to go away - hoping for a future where it doesn't make human input atrophy completely

[@pawnzrtasty]

@ real art made from humans will always have a place. I don’t think it will be the mainstream stuff. There’s still people doing claymation and other old forms of art.

[@aneebartist7207]

Funny is, those people who are laughing discouraging artists that you are wasting your time are now doing art (AI) with the name of AI artists. AI development engineers steals billions of artwork from artists without their permission without paying a single penny now building their paid website with terms and conditions "Hey look you can't train or change models and use that commercially". They ruined the fun and taste of Real art and artists.

[@Artanadiz]

Oh so handsome..

[@fowlerillus]

Haha. Thanks 😎

[@omaior20]

Everyone says no to AI because it's not good enough yet and they have an option to pay to real people to do the job. Every company outhere is chasing AI and how to replace positions with it to cut costs and flex to investos, in few years these AD might not be given option to pay to real people to do the job because their boss said so. I noticed that a lot of sci-fi 2d concept artists I follow on Artstation started to do more designs in 3d because because it's more valuable for production and AI can't do 3d.

[@fowlerillus]

Interesting that you're seeing that shift. I had noticed that too but I hadn't made the connection. Thanks for the perspectives.

[@trapmusic-trapbeatstraptub2119]

Meanwhile, at Coca Cola…

[@LupusMobile]

There seems to be a huge lack of understanding regarding what the tool is and how it works, when voiced by people who don't use and won't try it.

[@fowlerillus]

That's fair - my understanding is pretty surface level and is limited to my particular corner of an industry and how it affects us. If you want to elaborate, I would welcome your perspectives

[@LupusMobile]

@@fowlerillus When talking about Artificial Intelligence--which is often used as an umbrella term to refer to all things pertaining to the field of AI--it is important to make the distinction between ethics and functionality. That is to say, there is a difference between what a tool is and how the tool is used. There are many tools so lets start by choosing one to talk about: Stable Diffusion. Stable Diffusion has it's foundations rooted in Mathematics. It is a beautiful and artistic union of Statistics and Graph Theory. Mathematics itself is all about using logic to arrive at a solution. This is a process that requires one to gather information, sort information into meaningful groups, categorize those groups by value, assign meaningful weight for those groups, determine outputs, reiterate on decisions and finally, arrive at a solution. Let us consider an example to understand how math and art relate: Given a theoretical vault for storing our art, and an infinite number of canvases of 64px by 64px: There are a total of 4,096 (64 x 64) pixels on a canvas. Each pixel can have 256^3 (16,777,216) possible colors in the RGB color space. For each of the 4,096 pixels, you can change its value in 16,777,215 different ways (from 0xFFFFFF to 0x000000). Total images = 16,777,215×4,096 = 68,719,476,736 We can store every single image into the vault with a unique address. What this means is that every possible canvas of 64px by 64px can be chosen from an address in the vault, if only we knew the address that it exists. And this goes for every possible canvas of all sizes. This has nothing to do with AI, this is just theoretical thinking and pure Mathematics. Scaled, this means all images in infinity already exist, if only we know how to reach them. Stable Diffusion is the instruction, or weighing of many options based on human decisions, to arrive at a solution to a problem, where the problem is finding the pixels that meet all the requirements that we, the human, desire, when we set up the generation parameters. To generalize the process: 1. Mathematical Process: Just like solving an equation, Stable Diffusion uses complex algorithms to transform random noise into a coherent image. This involves a series of calculations and adjustments, much like how an artist makes decisions about composition, color, and form. 2. Decision-Making: The AI makes “decisions” at each step, guided by the text prompt and its training data. These decisions are based on probabilities and patterns learned from a vast amount of visual data, similar to how an artist draws on their experience and knowledge to create art. 3. Byproduct: The result of this process is an image that might seem “soulless” because it lacks the personal touch of a human artist. However, the underlying process involves a form of decision-making that mirrors the thoughtful and informed choices artists make. So, while the output might appear mechanical, the process behind it is quite sophisticated and involves a series of weighted decisions, much like the artistic process. Now when it comes to ethics, that is personal choice. For example, computers can be used for good and evil, but how they are used is the choice of the user. It's a tool we use to make our lives and workflow easier, but it can also ruin lives. Now, for some who are disabled, it means having a life again where you may not have ever had one. Stable diffusion does that for me. I have aphantasia and cannot envision things. I have great ideas but I cannot bring them to life. I love learning and took the time to learn art theory informally. I have the ability, but the moment I look at the page, I can't create anything, because I can't see and envision anything. Generating a reference gives me a chance to "Draw from this reference what I like" in my style. Would you consider it wrong of me to use inspiration, because of where it came from? If I copied it completely that's one thing, but I only draw inspiration from it, and will always be transparent with my process. Does that make me bad? I don't and won't sell AI, as I respect artists, but I believe I have a right, technically being disabled to use a tool to help me to be a creator to create and profit off of my own things. Is this a decent start. This is a pretty huge simplification of one tiny subset of AI. But I think it's a fair starting point to bridge the gap and remind artists that mathematics and all the digital tools you used were created by people who were artistic in their own, different sense. Mathematics is as artistic as art is mathematical. 💯

[@LupusMobile]

@@fowlerillus When talking about Artificial Intelligence--which is often used as an umbrella term to refer to all things pertaining to the field of AI--it is important to make the distinction between ethics and functionality. That is to say, there is a difference between what a tool is and how the tool is used. There are many tools so lets start by choosing one to talk about: Stable Diffusion. Stable Diffusion has it's foundations rooted in Mathematics. It is a beautiful and artistic union of Statistics and Graph Theory. Mathematics itself is all about using logic to arrive at a solution. This is a process that requires one to gather information, sort information into meaningful groups, categorize those groups by value, assign meaningful weight for those groups, determine outputs, reiterate on decisions and finally, arrive at a solution. Let us consider an example to understand how math and art relate: Given a theoretical vault for storing our art, and an infinite number of canvases of 64px by 64px: There are a total of 4,096 (64 x 64) pixels on a canvas. Each pixel can have 256^3 (16,777,216) possible colors in the RGB color space. For each of the 4,096 pixels, you can change its value in 16,777,215 different ways (from 0xFFFFFF to 0x000000). Total images = 16,777,215×4,096 = 68,719,476,736 We can store every single image into the vault with a unique address. What this means is that every possible canvas of 64px by 64px can be chosen from an address in the vault, if only we knew the address that it exists. And this goes for every possible canvas of all sizes. This has nothing to do with AI, this is just theoretical thinking and pure Mathematics. Scaled, this means all images in infinity already exist, if only we know how to reach them. Stable Diffusion is the instruction, or weighing of many options based on human decisions, to arrive at a solution to a problem, where the problem is finding the pixels that meet all the requirements that we, the human, desire, when we set up the generation parameters. To Summarize the process: 1. Mathematical Process: Just like solving an equation, Stable Diffusion uses complex algorithms to transform random noise into a coherent image. This involves a series of calculations and adjustments, much like how an artist makes decisions about composition, color, and form. 2. Decision-Making: The AI makes “decisions” at each step, guided by the text prompt and its training data. These decisions are based on probabilities and patterns learned from a vast amount of visual data, similar to how an artist draws on their experience and knowledge to create art. 3. Byproduct: The result of this process is an image that might seem “soulless” because it lacks the personal touch of a human artist. However, the underlying process involves a form of decision-making that mirrors the thoughtful and informed choices artists make. So, while the output might appear mechanical, the process behind it is quite sophisticated and involves a series of weighted decisions, much like the artistic process. Now when it comes to ethics, that is personal choice. For example, computers can be used for good and evil, but how they are used is the choice of the user. It's a tool we use to make our lives and workflow easier, but it can also ruin lives. Now, for some who are disabled, it means having a life again where you may not have ever had one. Stable diffusion does that for me. I have aphantasia and cannot envision things. I have great ideas but I cannot bring them to life. I love learning and took the time to learn art theory informally. I have the ability, but the moment I look at the page, I can't create anything, because I can't see and envision anything. Generating a reference gives me a chance to "Draw from this reference what I like" in my style. Would you consider it wrong of me to use inspiration, because of where it came from? If I copied it completely that's one thing, but I only draw inspiration from it, and will always be transparent with my process. Does that make me bad? I don't and won't sell AI, as I respect artists, but I believe I have a right, technically being disabled to use a tool to help me to be a creator to create and profit off of my own things. Remember, Mathematics is as artistic as art is mathematical.

[@LupusMobile]

​@@fowlerillus I've tried replying twice, but the reply isn't showing for me and I don't want to spam you. When talking about Artificial Intelligence--which is often used as an umbrella term to refer to all things pertaining to the field of AI--it is important to make the distinction between ethics and functionality. That is to say, there is a difference between what a tool is and how the tool is used. There are many tools so lets start by choosing one to talk about: Stable Diffusion. Stable Diffusion has it's foundations rooted in Mathematics. It is a beautiful and artistic union of Statistics and Graph Theory. Mathematics itself is all about using logic to arrive at a solution. This is a process that requires one to gather information, sort information into meaningful groups, categorize those groups by value, assign meaningful weight for those groups, determine outputs, reiterate on decisions and finally, arrive at a solution. Let us consider an example to understand how math and art relate: Given a theoretical vault for storing our art, and an infinite number of canvases of 64px by 64px: There are a total of 4,096 (64 x 64) pixels on a canvas. Each pixel can have 256^3 (16,777,216) possible colors in the RGB color space. For each of the 4,096 pixels, you can change its value in 16,777,215 different ways (from 0xFFFFFF to 0x000000). Total images = 16,777,215×4,096 = 68,719,476,736 We can store every single image into the vault with a unique address. What this means is that every possible canvas of 64px by 64px can be chosen from an address in the vault, if only we knew the address that it exists. And this goes for every possible canvas of all sizes. This has nothing to do with AI, this is just theoretical thinking and pure Mathematics. Scaled, this means all images in infinity already exist, if only we know how to reach them. Stable Diffusion is the instruction, or weighing of many options based on human decisions, to arrive at a solution to a problem, where the problem is finding the pixels that meet all the requirements that we, the human, desire, when we set up the generation parameters. To Summarize the process: 1. Mathematical Process: Just like solving an equation, Stable Diffusion uses complex algorithms to transform random noise into a coherent image. This involves a series of calculations and adjustments, much like how an artist makes decisions about composition, color, and form. 2. Decision-Making: The AI makes “decisions” at each step, guided by the text prompt and its training data. These decisions are based on probabilities and patterns learned from a vast amount of visual data, similar to how an artist draws on their experience and knowledge to create art. 3. Byproduct: The result of this process is an image that might seem “soulless” because it lacks the personal touch of a human artist. However, the underlying process involves a form of decision-making that mirrors the thoughtful and informed choices artists make. So, while the output might appear mechanical, the process behind it is quite sophisticated and involves a series of weighted decisions, much like the artistic process. Now when it comes to ethics, that is personal choice. For example, computers can be used for good and evil, but how they are used is the choice of the user. It's a tool we use to make our lives and workflow easier, but it can also ruin lives. Now, for some who are disabled, it means having a life again where you may not have ever had one. Stable diffusion does that for me. I have aphantasia and cannot envision things. I have great ideas but I cannot bring them to life. I love learning and took the time to learn art theory informally. I have the ability, but the moment I look at the page, I can't create anything, because I can't see and envision anything. Generating a reference gives me a chance to "Draw from this reference what I like" in my style. Would you consider it wrong of me to use inspiration, because of where it came from? If I copied it completely that's one thing, but I only draw inspiration from it, and will always be transparent with my process. Does that make me bad? I don't and won't sell AI, as I respect artists, but I believe I have a right, technically being disabled to use a tool to help me to be a creator to create and profit off of my own things. Mathematics is as artistic as art is mathematical. 💯

[@LupusMobile]

When talking about Artificial Intelligence--which is often used as an umbrella term to refer to all things pertaining to the field of AI--it is important to make the distinction between ethics and functionality. That is to say, there is a difference between what a tool is and how the tool is used. There are many tools so lets start by choosing one to talk about: Stable Diffusion. Stable Diffusion has it's foundations rooted in Mathematics. It is a beautiful and artistic union of Statistics and Graph Theory. Mathematics itself is all about using logic to arrive at a solution. This is a process that requires one to gather information, sort information into meaningful groups, categorize those groups by value, assign meaningful weight for those groups, determine outputs, reiterate on decisions and finally, arrive at a solution. Let us consider an example to understand how math and art relate: Given a theoretical vault for storing our art, and an infinite number of canvases of 64px by 64px: There are a total of 4,096 (64 x 64) pixels on a canvas. Each pixel can have 256^3 (16,777,216) possible colors in the RGB color space. For each of the 4,096 pixels, you can change its value in 16,777,215 different ways (from 0xFFFFFF to 0x000000). Total images = 16,777,215×4,096 = 68,719,476,736 We can store every single image into the vault with a unique address. What this means is that every possible canvas of 64px by 64px can be chosen from an address in the vault, if only we knew the address that it exists. And this goes for every possible canvas of all sizes. This has nothing to do with AI, this is just theoretical thinking and pure Mathematics. Scaled, this means all images in infinity already exist, if only we know how to reach them. Stable Diffusion is the instruction, or weighing of many options based on human decisions, to arrive at a solution to a problem, where the problem is finding the pixels that meet all the requirements that we, the human, desire, when we set up the generation parameters.