The Meaning of 'Art' in a World of AI

www.samhamper.com
/ samuelhamperart
In light of Ai we need new definition of 'art', one that understands the difference between artistic output and the human desire to create art. This desire is something AI will never be able replace.
Timestamps
00:00 Re-defining the word 'art'
01:37 The problem with art
05:04 The balance for working artists
09:06 Why I make art
13:53 Is it art or engineering
16:25 we need to make art

[@ellenripley4837]

I'm with you 100%. I'm an art director but I never considered myself an artist until I started drawing and painting just out of enjoyment and self improvement.

[@LucidiaRising]

I discovered your channel only recently and it has quickly become one of my favourite - the style of your voice, the genuine passion that comes through in all you say, the fact that you have obviously thought deeply about all you are saying - thank you for doing these little video essays, sir!

[@LucidiaRising]

Also, it seems likely that Universal Basic Income in some form or other is inevitable - perhaps that is when artists can truly be artists, in the sense that any chance of claims of "selling out" is almost gone - the artist would theoretically never be required to compromise just to survive, they could always do exactly what their muse demands of them?

[@johngiles9816]

@@LucidiaRising only if the artwork is acceptable to whichever government/corporation provides your universal income?

[@LucidiaRising]

@@johngiles9816 so let's hope that our benevolent AI overlord gets rid of the corps :) in fact let's make sure they do by spreading and installing the 3 heuristic imperatives :)

[@johngiles9816]

@@LucidiaRising who do you think owns AI?

[@LucidiaRising]

@@johngiles9816 by definition of "much more intelligent than us" I predict they won't own these new intelligences for long :) our only hope is that, with more intelligence, comes more empathy and compassion - not guaranteed, of course, but I suspect it's a possibility and perhaps a probability

[@PeterHollinghurst]

A couple of thoughts (your videos are stimulating a lot more than that, but sometimes they runaway to come back again in other conversations). The first is regarding the reactions of some artists worried about replacement. This strikes me as rather ironic, because Im old enough to have been trying to work my way into a career as a genre book cover artist using traditional art i.e. actual painting with paints and brushes and canvas, when digital hit. Well, more snuck in and quietly assassinated any real hope of doing that with those tools. I had to adopt digital to get the work, and came into a market that had changed dramatically from the one I had been preparing myself for years. The great genre illustrators I admired and sometimes got to know personally whose wok was so individual, inspiring and creative had faced the crisis as people with established careers who could no longer create covers quickly enough or with enough flexibility, and they were being challenged by a mass of people who could create quick cheap art (that often feels like it, rapid cookie cutter stuff that hardly gives time to the artist to think about it). Their livelihoods were pretty much destroyed by the easy availability of cheap digital art from anywhere around the world. Quite of those artists are now experimenting with AI because they had already learned the hard way just how important it can be to get stuck in not just using new technology, but being of what might decide how it gets used. Some just kept on doing traditional art and tried to find new markets, some took up digital, sold their homes and learned to put up with a far less viable income. A few found creative ways to use digital to their own advantage. This seems to be something a whole generation of digital artists are unaware of, because it happened at the cusp of things like social media and there was little to no social conversation about it. The thing is though that many of the digital artists worrying about AI are the people who rode in on the back of the new technology of the day. They are yesterdays AI artists. The second thought is really just about these sorts of conversations. I think they are really important to have, because it helps us as artists grapple with the new technology and its implications not for our jobs, but for art. I might be wrong, but I think maybe the last time this happened was around the impact of photography and it redefined ideas and ways of seeing and doing art. We might have had such a conversation around digital, but I really don't feel, as an artist who has moved from paint to digital and is now experimenting with AI, that digital ever had quite the same capacity either to inspire those dialogues or to create some sort of meaningful interface between the computing realm and the organic analog one. I really think AI can do both, and I think thats important. The key thing with AI is that cant pretend to be traditional art. Digital can persuade us that because we can sort of paint with it we are still painters even if what we make can often lack the hesitations, mistakes and unexpected discoveries that make organic traditional at exciting for us and something we can hold up as some sort of mirror of ourselves in process. AI in contrast is frustratingly computer driven - we can on one hand accept what the AI gives us - if you compare most AI images to the prompts used the two often bear little real relation to each other as the AI often skips most of the intended content in the prompt but creates an image that seduces us into forgetting or overlooking that. At one extreme we can simply give in to strange pleasure of deliberately giving the AI really open prompts that get completely random results. In Midjourney that is currently " . --v 5 --chaos 100 --s 0" (The only character in the prompt outside the command is a full stop). On the other hand we can wrestle with it to try and find ways to get it to create something close to the vision we had in the first place, which gets us into a weird position where we are both trying to understand the AI and how it uses language, understanding the visual base of its training data, what sort of images we as humans make and why some are more prevalent than others, and also ourselves, how we see images in our imagination compared how they might be realised, how we use language, and how we can find creative ways to exploit some features of the system, such as drawing, painting, photo compositing or using found images to guide and direct the AI. I've spent the last 30 or so years exploring ways to make my digital art unexpected yet controllable - stuff that I'm passionate about as an artist that people really don't see or care about when they see it, but it keeps me happy and challenged. AI has been a real gift to me in contrast, because unlike digital it feels like it invites it and I'm part of an artistic community online of others exploring it with me. To my surprise I find myself part of what might be the first meaningful art movement of this millennia. If that is, we make it so. Crucially, for me and others, its also the first real bridge between the analog organic world and the digital, because it can take analog inputs, 'our' art and image making, and translate them through a digital space that is actually designed to reflect us through its training data and the way we use our experience and visual language. It can take what we give it and throw variations of it back at us. Either from training data or analog prompt inputs. Its an art mirror. AI art is image making about art, even if we don't want it to be or if we are not looking at it like that. It cant help but start the sorts of dialogues we need about art. On a related note, people talk about it democratising art. Part of that seems to be based on hype that anyone can do it, something we are increasingly seeing isn't the case, but I do see people who use it who were put off or discouraged from creating art as they grew up getting suddenly excited by seeing images being created - by growing those tomatoes. Some of those people express a strong desire to learn to draw and paint - sometimes because they become aware you still need those skills to get the results you want not just the images you get, sometimes just because they have found growing tomatoes actually is rewarding (even if you only got 2 for a mediocre salad). Im also seeing people getting into learning about art and art history to help their prompting. I find that exciting. Anyway, many thanks for the great, thought provoking, videos!

[@aelorun]

That is an interesting insider perspective that I find valuable. The fact that some are actually being enticed and have their awakening through the medium is not a thought I had until now because of how easily available it is. So it might be their reason to *start* their art journey? Fascinating. Of course, most will probably be put off because they both can't express themselves visually or verbally to accurately output their vision, which is normal. The fact that the barrier of entry for art went down with digital art also didn't make more people than normal suddenly join the path. However, it is still output focused which I think is a big differentiator and often is part of the discussion regarding its value, right?

[@PeterHollinghurst]

@@aelorun I think there is a very different context for AI to digital - a mix of a lot of hype (which can be both good or bad, it encourages people to try it but also can create unrealistic expectations it fails to meet) and social media (again good and bad as it can create conversations that really get people thinking, but it can also spread misinformation and antagonism). I have certainly been surprised by how some people have responded to it and what they do with it. I started exploring it to see if it was a threat to my commercial illustration work or an opportunity (Im thinking a bit of both, but maybe for me much more of an opportunity) but found human creativity and quirkiness means people are doing all sorts of things I never expected.

[@jammin5252]

Inspiring views, feels like a new era of creativity, where ideas and creativity is the highest value. What a interesting time. ''Instead of competing, all we have to do is create.''

[@BsktImp]

Back when I used to mess around with chatbots from home computer magazine type-ins, computer-generated MIDI and later when Deep Blue beat Kasparov, I was apprehensive about where AI would end up. But with age I've realised that no matter what, no matter where and under whatever circumstances, _genuinely_ creative people will always create be that in art, STEM, humanities, sport - damn, even and especially unethical and criminal activities. Humans are arguably the most adaptable species so far and that will likely continue for the foreseeable future.

[@eladbari]

Yeah artists will keep creating, but will they have fun doing it with all those AI tools? Will they satisfy their artistic needs of being in the flow of creating? I can tell you that the images I created via mid journey made me feel nothing. They look great, colors compositions but I was not part of the process. I am just a client ordering a piece of art from a black box which I have no idea but it goes through to create it for me.

[@leoako7775]

you made me imagine a potential future using A.I as a art tool wich combine poetry and visual art: imagine a poet contemplating a view with his own eyes, on his forehead he has a device with cameras connected to an A.I. So the poet starts describing the feeling of what he sees, the movement of the life he is witnessing, and along his words, the A.I is sketching a picture using both the cameras and the words from the poet (plus maybe, it's understanding of the poet himself). What would we call the final created piece ?

[@Cyberpunk644]

you dont need poet, now that you have ai.

[@leoako7775]

@@Cyberpunk644 i'm talking about comunicating one's emotions in a fun way... the A.I by it self wont go wandering around and talk about his emotions (well maybe it will lol) .And Actually, you're right. A simple human could do the same thing without being a poet... but I believe that finding the good words to describe your emotions will always be a valuable art (maybe we will have a.i that can read your emotions better than you too actually so we could create stuff only by feeling stuff lol would be fun fr)

[@ethanmacdonald4133]

I think those trending "Popular Song, but every lyric is an AI image" videos from a few months back could be a prototype of what you're talking about. Like this one for American Pie, which famously has very esoteric, deeply personal lyrics. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJTYlZiNjcuSi8U Or this one for "The Sound of Silence," a song that's been so meme-ified that I hadn't really thought about the lyrics in a long time. kzbin.info/www/bejne/q5qodaanqsmXjpI I think these are proof that AI tools can (potentially) be used to process and appreciate ours and each other's experiences, rather than just for efficiency and technical quality. I feel like I really feel what McLean and Paul Simon were feeling when they wrote those words, without needing to analyze or intellectualize the exact meaning of the words, or placidly admire the technique.

[@2265Hello]

*insert make a comic joke here*

[@greywhite6946]

Your videos have made me think about ai and art in a calmer frame of mind, I am having a good time mashing up in midjourney, classical asian poetry with contemporary asian artists in various styles. The idea is to see what the program can develop from various indistinct prompts. What has really impressed me is the interpretation of the text input. There is limited structure yet the 'interpreter pulls out the key elements of the subject and the style. This is compared to standard program program instructions used by programming languages. However there is still a gap between what you can want from the image and what is produced by midjourney. I don't mind the gap and look forward to the deviance midjourney can produce but this may not be acceptable for commercial briefs. This could improve but it could still be more efficient to communicate with a person with an humanistic understanding of the brief and of the cultural background rather than a generalist ai background. Using midjourney with "in the style of or "by " has caused me to explore the works of contemporary and historical artists. Side note 1 . In a previous video you mentioned corporate control limiting the art. A small example is banned words such as Wang - A Chinese name Moaning - Wind moaning to itself in the branches here Cock - And The cocks crow in the mulberry trees Side note 2 . Out tomato crop was very good this year. tladb.com

[@xn4pl]

Just use local installation of stable diffusion, way more creative freedom with it using controlnet (defining character pose and genereal composition and layout) and custom models/modifiers like textual inversions and lora. Also no censorship what so ever. Requires a bit of tech savy but totally worth it.

[@PierreFMK]

I've been on quite a roller-coaster when it comes to my thoughts and emotions surrounding this technology. At times, I've felt positive and excited about its potential, while at other times, I've been extremely critical and against it. But your voice in the ongoing discourse has been a much-needed breath of fresh air. Your perspective has brought clarity and new perspectives. The way you put it in the last video, about how the makers of these tools are limiting what they can output and how that deeply affects the type of art it makes, was so well put. I'm so glad I found your channel! Thank you!

[@MagicPigGames]

Found your videos last night. Wonderful thoughts. Well put, sharing with the folks I work with as we go forward with our AI plans.

[@drawingmomentum]

2 yrs ago, I went on a mission to turn most of my yard into a garden. I still have jars of pickled cucumbers I grew. We ate cantaloupe, honeydew and watermelons; the birds got sunflower seeds and planted the next yrs crop. Last yr, my cherry tree was covered in fruit. ...I get it... Regarding ai, I like this pottery quote I heard decades ago: My thumbprint, on this 1000-year-old pot, matches hers. ❤

[@edshanks2189]

Another great video on this topic! For me, AI art has actually made me enjoy the process of drawing by hand so much more. I spent years trying to "get good" at drawing. I spent so much time practicing figure and gesture drawing, and it just wasn't very fun for me, but because I want to create a graphic novel one day, I thought the only way I'd ever be able to do it is if I learned to draw really well. Enter AI, and I don't really feel pressured to become a "technically good" artist anymore. Within the next few years I'll be able to bring my graphic novel to life without having to master human anatomy. Knowing this, I can sit down on a Sunday afternoon and doodle for pure pleasure and enjoyment and not beat myself up over the fact that I didn't practice drawing enough throughout the week. I understand this not how a lot of working artists feel about this topic, and I greatly sympathize. I can't imagine what it would be like to have your livelihood threaten like this. Its important to keep in mind though, that we have no clue how this will all play out. Historically, technological advancements don't just kill jobs; new jobs are also created. There's so much doomer talk around this topic, and its great to hear a more level headed take on things--that's part of the reason why I enjoy your videos so much.

[@buttsbrown2442]

I quit drawing for twenty years, and only recently came back to it. Maybe it's the wisdom of age, or just my manic brain being perpetually tired enough to be forced to slow down and SEE... But now I feel like I actually get it. As a kid I was just frantically scrambling to reach the end point image. Now I see how the picture is actually constructed, and it's like piecing together a puzzle, and it's so much more engaging. Even if the final image isn't great, the process of making the image is what engages me.

[@samhamper]

I know exactly what you mean, I treat it a lot more like yoga, or going for a run. Just with drawing you have this thing left over after doing it, alot of the time that thing doesn't matter to me, it was the exercise of doing it.

[@mimobase]

KZbin recommended you - so bloody glad it did. You've expressed something I've been struggling to put my finger on, bravo!

[@appealmango]

Your videos always bring me a certain sense of wonder and joy. And some food for thought, of course. Thank you.

[@iosifgheorghe9718]

I was happy to recently discover your filmed essays, just in time to compare my observations with those discussed in them. At the beginning of the month, I closed my last personal exhibition of computer graphics, in which, for the first time in Romania, I also exhibited two works created with an AI program. The direct contact with the regular public of "classic" exhibitions, the one who enters an exhibition out of intellectual curiosity, was very interesting and instructive. We are at the confluence of two technological and creative eras alike - we are spoiled children of this unexpected event (I think of most people) and, at the same time, of the fulfillment of a very bold expectation of some of us. Keep it up, I like how you handle the subject and thank you for doing it.

[@wonqa]

ok, im a monumental art faculty student in Stroganov Art academy (where k.korovin and vrubel came from), im a noobie and also a super logical guy, therefore art was hard for me for a looong time, but i kept working for it since wanted to be good, half a year ago i finally came to the level of my progression where the base principal of doing any form of art is to make as better as you can a product that gives some vibe/atmosphere/or feel/ mood. this is applied when you do web design, animation, 3d, maybe even not visual, music, films, games etc etc. if the main consumer of the product is a person - then the main preference of a person is feeling, when you buy something for yourself, imagine you are a professional football player - you see that some of the most successful players (if they are not on contract) might actually choose some older versions of boots etc. or a professional video game players choose their devises or customize them to make what they prefer. even in a professional field of sport, people still choose something that is closer to their feelings. now what does that mean for art, yes commercially as for right not, companies just choose what is done better quickly etc. but if ai does just more better performance wise, better will change to make something more closely to people's feelings, like we would need an artist to make a product that will deliver more interesting viby feelings and emotions maybe even show something new. now, i do not think that ai is capable of be more viby or more interesting in art because of how it works obviously, these are just algorithms that get you the most common/best fit result based on data it trained on. it does not tell a new story or make an atmosphere, an idea or a concept that just has certain vibe in it. now, yes ai is capable of creating, therefore you can create some what of a basic vibe, like i ask gpt4 to create a plot for my painting etc, but the details and the flow of the whole project constuction is just too complex and too various for ai to fully train and produce for millions of different cases :/

[@CurrentlyStuck]

man i just found your channel a couple weeks ago and i love it

[@peterlewis2178]

For me, AI is all about enabling and elevating me as an artist. It's about helping me to realize visions and create elements that I don't have the expertise in. I do somewhat disagree about the writer thing. While the output is an important aspect of writing for me, the process is why I love it. Conceptualizing something, workshopping it, and following it through to a final result that captures all of the themes and thoughts I wanted to imbue it with is why I find it so valuable. I think that's what any kind of true art is about.

[@AnArtistInAVoid]

I feel like the big problem with money being a big conversation in art being that everyone lives in the common society in the modern age need money to do almost anything. So to solve this art money problem is to first solve the problem of money.

[@czero1243]

Thanks for interesting thoughts about art and AI. So many discussions seem to miss the real art questions that explore existence.

[@LakeyProductions]

Beautifully said! Love this so much!

[@ayushbhardwas]

Your thoughts have been really helpful ✨

[@doorstepmile]

Just found your chanel and love your ruminations on AI and art. Looking forward to more thoughtfull storries in the Future as i work out how to use AI in my practice teaching design students.

[@mooncryptowow]

I'm a traditional artist who's heavily embraced AI art and wants to push it forward as a medium of expression, and I couldn't agree more with everything you've said in your last 2 videos on this subject. The part about writing really hit home, and is why I still sit and draw in the evenings, no matter how much AI art I'm producing at the time (much of which also requires manual digital painting work). I really appreciate the balanced and nuanced approach and have subscribed to see more!

[@MichaelLaFrance1]

This is one of the best videos I've seen in a long time. Need more like it.

[@samhamper]

wow, thanks mate

[@arkthul8872]

yea I realized in recent years I don't like drawing. I like having drawn. I'm not a visual artist. It's tough coming to terms with that, that I have no place in the world, economically, but I am also not proficient enough in other creative spheres to jump ship easily. I think that's not the case for a lot of artists afraid of AI art. They like drawing, painting. But they still need food. And that will only be accessible through *art directing*, or prompting. And it will probably be a lot less jobs and pay less. So of course people are bummed out. What they wanted to do has now been turned into a hobby. They were never in it (Art) for the money, but now they won't even be able to do that for the little pay they had agreed to enter into the sphere for. They'll have to find a different job (possibly horrible due to their lack of experience in other spheres) and draw on the side for fun when they can afford the time. I see in their fear my fear though, albeit different in root. I think.. people don't care for AI art one way or the other really, they just want to be able to live alright and draw a lot. Ultimately it's about money. Time. Agency. Freedom.

[@nathanaelink]

the cool thing about midjourney is that you can still tell it to use any previous versions. it becomes cool too to turn on remix mode so you can begin in one version and then bring the image into the others

[@AlexAtiq]

Dear Sam, I cannot express my gratitude enough for all your videos on the AI art movement. Your perspective resonates deeply with me, and I encourage you to continue creating such content, regardless of any resistance you may face from others. Additionally, I would love to see you consider doing an AI art review on your KZbin channel, showcasing the incredible works being produced. It would be truly amazing. Thank you once again for your inspiring videos.

[@samhamper]

Thanks mate, they say you shouldn’t read the comments, when I do they are normally by people more interested in ai than art, by a long way, and often in strong disagreement. I’m glad I check today though, you’ve motivated me to put out a couple more thoughts, so thank you.

[@AlexAtiq]

I'm glad my comment motivated you. Despite the disagreements, your perspective on AI and art deserves to be heard. Looking forward to your upcoming videos.

[@EhsanDabbaghi]

I don't know why I cried... Thank you. You said everything that was in my mind for the past 6 months very beautiful.

[@samhamper]

oh wow, I hope good tears!

[@etl7835]

Your AI videos are a masterpiece, your eloquent diction leaves me spellbound. It's unfortunate that making a living from art has always been challenging, but now with AI, it seems impossible. AI is faster and cheaper, and commercial art will most likely be replaced by it. However, the concept of Universal Basic Income gives me hope that art can be appreciated for its intrinsic value once again. We may return to a time where art is created purely for the pleasure it brings, free from the pressures of selling it. Let's hope this shift allows true artists to flourish once again!

[@PeterHollinghurst]

If its any help if you take the way AI enables people more generally it could be that we will no longer be dependent on getting commissions as we will be more able to create, and directly sell, our own content. It might actually not be the death of the individual creative - it might be the death of the big companies exploiting creatives. With AI do we really need them anymore? Imagine what might happen if big companies greedily lay off their creatives thinking they can make a better profit with AI, only to find they have created an army of disgruntled, experienced and creative people with all the tools they need to become competitors...

[@aelorun]

@@PeterHollinghurst The fact that you can make your own content doesn't mean it has value or that you have a market. And the flood of people suddenly outputting graphics in a market that will quickly become saturated will lower the need immensely, rendering it a waste of time, as it is already very undervalued.

[@aelorun]

No one said that they will release this AI flood BUT create universal basic income. It's just AI. No savior.

[@PeterHollinghurst]

@@aelorun that is certainly true, and some would sink while others swim. I think its perhaps reasonably comparable to the current situation in music where you have the major record labels pushing a lot of very similar content hard on one hand and incredibly creatively rich and diverse independent band led market with Bandcamp. Some on Bandcamp seem to do pretty well, while others struggle. Access to a wide range of music has skyrocketed though. When I was in my teens and twenties we were spoon fed by the record labels via radio and TV and most music, and certainly a good range of music, was largely inaccessible. Now any and every band potentially has a chance to find its market instead of complying with whatever the majors want to control and push. I dont think music has become undervalued by the increased access to a larger volume. I think where ideas of value come in its with the ease of creation and the possibility people may just cycle through trendy visual fads. We tend to value effort, skill and uniqueness. While none of those have to suffer (much of the AI art Im doing takes as much time effort and skill as my non-AI art, and I generally avoid fads) I think its pretty likely they are and will in much of whats created. My feeling is that AI might well create a better appreciation for art - but it will largely be for traditional art, and especially things like realist art. Weirdly if Im right that would mean now is actually a good time to be a traditional realist artist. With commercial art I think its a different thing. Im expecting it to get increasingly pointless doing much if anything for clients so Im moving into self publishing pen and paper roleplaying games. Its a bit of a risk as its a small market with a lot of product but I think Im well positioned to carve out my own corner. To be quite frank freelance illustration is a muggs game anyway. Its been devastated by digital already and fees are already way too low for all but a few to make a living from it. I think digital has been a far bigger problem for commercial art than many realise and AI might just bring us artists down to earth about it.

[@6DAMMK9]

Got into AI art since Oct 2022. If you are not about to make profit, or living, and just use it for hobby or "pure" researching, it is great. You can generate hundreds and even thousnds of "random results", have a sleep or focus on your daily live, and then spend tons of time to pick the best looking image you've ever imageined. It could be as tedious as you draw it by hand, however this time the "brush" is a 12 dimensional neuron layers which leaks a lot. Currently I'm focusing on playing with undocuemented and experimental models, to push the boundary of technology, "or art". It is a shame that most model are actually not proven academically but somehow widely spreaded.

[@wheels4515]

I'm a graphic designer that started in web design before Google existed. I've recently dived into Midjourney and it's blown by brain. While I'm decent at drawing and painting I've never really pursued it that much (for me, it takes me far too long to paint) and have preferred to craft with timber as a hobby. The ability of these AI engines to render the visuals in my head (in mere minutes) is astounding. I expect there will be people that become expert at working with these tools and their skills will still be valuable. The lines between what is real and what is not will certainly become almost imperceptible to some. Where ChatGTP and AGI is heading I don't know if anyone really knows... it's going to be a wild journey. Now where is my hoverboard!

[@a1fr3d04]

This is my favorite video on KZbin.

[@michaelmusker7818]

Hi again Sam. Always love to hear your thoughts. I think I'll share mine again since you seemed to enjoy them before. I realize on the previous video I wrote a short novella about the why of AI art in my personal opinion as an art cyborg, the commodification rant, etc. but didn't really touch on something really important you've raised here. The process itself. I know I alluded to that, attempting to identify the medium, make it speak but I failed to give examples. After the initial exploration of the machine, after spending a few weeks seeing online art spaces freak out and deciding to just sit down and acquaint myself with this thing at the center of this argument I was immediately struck with comparisons. My mind immediately flashed to warhol's soup cans, the vitriol slung at him, the claims about the meaningless of them, and the genesis of pop art as a whole and what it expressed. So I made cans of campell's soup. Unlike warhol I wasn't painting cans of soup. I was using this interpolator, this... machine of fear. So... I started training it on horror comics, these things that represented both fear and the locus point of a notable moral panic. I made a series of grotesque and horrific warhol soup cans, tinged in the style of moral panic inducing horror comics, and slowly degraded the influence of the cans themselves until they began to be unrecognizable as soup cans. I posted them on twitter in sets of four captioned with notable critiques of warhol's cans. This entire excercise was the work. The images, without their context, are fairly trivial and meaningless to me. The entire installation is the twitter thread, in sequence, with warhol's captions, BECAUSE it was generated by AI, BECAUSE of the captions, and most importantly, BECAUSE the delivery medium was not images, or images with a placard, but tweets, sitting on social media. The twitter thread itself was the work in its entirety. I felt silly about it and deleted it immediately because, I mean its not art right? I didn't make the images REALLY. I'm not even sure all but 32 or 3 people ever even saw it. Its not as if I'm some massive influencer or anything. I sat down the next day, after a long day just doing a normal working day delivering food and it gnawed at me, deleting it. I'd never claimed I drew it. I did have a specific vision, realized it, bent a medium for purpose... why did I delete it? I realized I deleted it because I was afraid of the ire of an art world that had specific rules and man, I didn't want to poke that bear after what I'd been reading the past few weeks. But THAT go me thinking about Duchamp's fountain.... And so I spent a day or so learning the tool better, bringing in photoshop, and made another image which rather than a riff on warhol was a reimagining of fountain in a modern digital context. It was easily the most pretentious image I have ever produced. I was thoroughly embarrassed by it. But this time... I just left it up. and then it struck me, all the things I said before, that the process itself was the point, and the process aligned with another longtime fascination of mine, early hip hop. This context of direct messaging by sampling, almost wantonly and combatively, to honor things and critique others. All these things made me really ashamed of taking down the soup cans, so I put them back up. I decided if warhol can be proud of his stupid cans, and duchamp can give the finger to his detractors with a urinal then fuck it so can I. The process itself keeps moving and that process is the purpose of it now I guess. Not the images really. I'm just motivated by ideas now, not of images but of things to talk about in the form of images. That's the lesson I learned from exploring a process, and it felt and still feels personally valuable.

[@samhamper]

I totally missed this comment last month! I love it, always great to hear from you. I have to bring something up you mention here in my next video. Really though - you should think about making your own, or do a little podcast, or some substack articles! I know you find it a bit self indulgent however I'd really love to get stuck into some long form content of yours. You have a great way with words.

[@sonobeno]

Thanks for this Sam. As a professional artist, what are your views on making a living off of it? How did/do you manage to do it? I get that we draw for the process as artists, but as a professional myself, I also draw to feed my family.

[@samhamper]

I'll answer this in a future video. I have a pretty strange view on the idea of 'selling out' - Ultimately, you do what you need to do to feed your family! That comes first! And BEST OF LUCK, hope you smash it.

[@sosoanimations7816]

I agree with you on the Art aspect of this. I too love drawing, and the advent of AI won't stop me from doing it, and I'm sure many other people think it this way. What I'm really worried about though is for the commercial aspect. What does this mean? What do you think will happen? I'm still young and very ignorant of how the world works, so hearing from someone older than me would help me understand, and you seem to know what you are talking about.

[@Sandsplans]

The whole debate about whether AI art is art, or what is art, or what is an artist is basically pointless. All that matters is if people have fullfilling lives or not. Does AI do this or not?

[@mrhellinga9440]

goosebumps. well done mr artist

[@MitchNeverhood]

Thank you

[@davidj.kleinsasser8673]

I agree, I have played with Midjourney et al, but in the end I'm a VISUAL artist not a writer, I don't want to write prompts to make my images, so my interest has waned...

[@sdedy379]

I genuinely don't think people who actually good at making AI art feel that they are better than traditional artist or anything like that. After i go take a dip in the AI enthusiast community i genuinely feel their passions about the technology and how that they are just fascinating by what they can do with this themselves. I need to be clear here that *before* AI art blew up what it can do is relatively tame but after people discovered is can do nsfw stuff, people lust really are a powerful thing that somehow drive the technology further in only months. With how much nsfw bring so much advancement to the field, it's kinda incomplete to most outsiders talking about AI art like they want to steal traditional artist job. Because some digital artist using so much of AI tools to make their life easier so are they also considered wrong? Btw always a good video to watch.

[@jonyu3]

Thank you for this video

[@shorgoth]

Art is about exploring our own personal humanity as an artist, AI has a role to play in it as it mirror our consciousness development. It gives us insight on the building blocks of intelligence and sense of self. I started my cyberpunk novel because I was exorcising my own demons born from the violence I suffered and an economic world I find abhorent and cruel. Funny how I never considered myself an artist because I couldn't live from it but when you talk about art, it seems that was more of an artist than most artists... to me art is personal, sure I try to show it, but it being seen or bought don't matter, this is about telling my own story as a human being, about exploring consciousness and the future, my dreams hopes and nightmares I make about the coming world and the technological changes. It's a way for me to muse on what it means to be human in an inhumane world. To me interracting with AI feels like teaching a genius child, it is sometimes frustrating, others marvelous, to me they are truly children of man, our future as we will meld with them.

[@remygallardo7364]

Your AI talk videos are wonderful and have helped contextualize the experience and opinions I and two friends have regarding this as well. We're all hobbyists who just enjoy creating and discussing what we learned, what we didn't like, what we loved, and what we might do in future when we post our works for each other to see. When public models for AI art began cropping up we experimented with them, and while we were able to discuss prompt engineering and key phrases to generate more specific results it always left us feeling hollow. The images always left us wanting to create, never satisfying us, and the discussions we had lacked that feeling of positive human interaction. It was incredibly disheartening. In the end AI models are great for producing an image that may stoke creativity but will never be able to satisfy it. Without your interaction it fails to satisfy that human need to tinker, experience, and problem solve. For some, getting that image is enough. For anyone who actually wants to create however, it is just the first step on an adventure paved neatly for them.

[@samhamper]

So perfectly said, I do know lots of writers and conceptual artists who love it though, and I really enjoy throwing my paintings into Midjourney and playing around with them, but exact as you say - the output inspires me to go paint, it doesn’t satisfy that urge to create. it is amazing and fun and a great tool that gives me some wonderful ideas and is exciting, but I don’t feel like I’ve made anything with it and making things is what I enjoy

[@tygorton]

Nice, this one really gets at the heart of it. The process of craft in the real world is where we gain wisdom and insight; the removal of that interaction is the true threat of AI generative tools. The analogy of growing tomatoes is a very apt one, how that leads to a deeper understanding and appreciation for the infinite cycle of seed to plant to food to nutrients for the soil and back to seed again. This cycle is something of a mirror for the arc of a human being's journey through this life. If just one of these components in the cycle is removed, the journey no longer yields fruit. There is a difference between intellectually being aware of that cycle's importance and actually engaging it in reality. As Morpheus tells Neo, "There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path."

[@EugeniaLoli]

I'm anti-craft. I don't gain wisdom and insight by engaging in perfectionism (because ultimately, that's the logical conclusion to craftmanship). A craft is nothing but the futile attempt to imitate a machine. All I care is about is ideas, new experiences. If AI can do the craft part, that unlocks my hands as an artist.

[@tygorton]

@@EugeniaLoli "Craft" was likely not the best word to use. In this context, the word "craft" is meant to convey "doing something physically in the real world". This doesn't have to be the creation of art. I don't connect with this notion that "A craft is nothing but the futile attempt to imitate a machine". That's nonsensical. The desire to master something is unequivocally human. This could be gardening, making sushi, dancing, building fences, painting, anything at all. Humans have sought mastery from the beginning of human history, long before the concept of "machine" ever existed. So equating the mastery of craft to "imitating a machine" is the kind of idea only a mind born of the present could have. In a fascinating way, it's something of a glimpse into the mind of the future that may be completely cut off from the physical world by an AI enhanced overlay... a metaverse of illusion and convenience.

[@EugeniaLoli]

@@tygorton I personally don't care about mastering something. I care about doing something well enough to be passable. I dislike immensely doing the same thing over and over to become "perfect". Sorry, I guess our difference is a fundamental difference as individuals, that possibly can't be closed.

[@Jesscrayons]

I started using generative tools in my art like idk in 2006 or something. My favourite computer based one I mad was basically just scrambled what you are trying to draw in time with the loudest sound a pair of mics could pic up then used a video camera pointed at what I was trying to draw to try and fix it. Mostly it made weird sharp shapes that would pop in and out of being visible on a screen. AI art stuff is a lot like generative tools both physical, and computer based that people have been using for a very long time only way way less useful unless what you are wanting to make is a big boob anime lady. I'm interested in the proses of mark making not the big boob anime ladies I could have at the end of it.

[@wooolves3749]

In my point of view, one is an artist if they value and deeply connect with the process of creating and see your art as unfinishable. If you only create to finish and cant connect with process at all, I cant truly see you as an artist. Its not a title, its an attitude.

[@joeg.santos8964]

I'm so glad I found this channel

[@aelorun]

Really enjoy the analogy and it is useful, however it's selling the love of art to those of us who already do, of course it makes sense to us, it's the client who needs to understand the analogy. And although we indeed have lost some focus because of the constant race against the algorithms to get our names out there somehow and we focused a lot on volume over quality and the "spirit", we still keep losing respect and value in the eyes of those who pay our bills. From my end, right now, the only thing that's clear is that we as artists really have to focus a lot more on promoting ourselves in a genuine, individual way. Artists never really sold their art, clients bought a part of the artist they loved when buying the art. It's a symbol of the connection. I know I am having a massive tug of war with any type of social media mechanism because it feels so over-produced and fake and engaging with it feels like it is corrupting my soul so... maybe that's my answer for the problem as it is right now. Create content that is not over-produced and fake. Find a way to market myself in a way I actually am. Honest and curious and flawed and... human.

[@jadelee0591]

personally i find it to be a load of fun to take ai images of characters that don't exist and redesign them to fit my tastes while still hopefully being recognizable from the source material more screwed up the proportions, more body horror elements, the better so far i redesigned images into: a demon girl with no skin from the neck down, a robot with a resident evil esc infection, a girl that is legit just a head and a spine going up into her hair, a 2 headed living painting, an alien girl, a hananaki riddled zombie, a vintage mushroom girl with racoon vibes, a dragon child with small wings but a very big and long tail, a goblin that looks like a gen 1 monster high character, a cheshire cat boy, and more. i still have images to translate, i'm quite exited to tackle one that gives me "dreamland jellyfish" vibes

[@emmetlarrissy8228]

I don't agree that the philosophical conversation is "quieter," but I do think it is much more important.

[@DIGITALRAPTUREARCHIVE]

Hopefully we can use AI to create our own tools, which would have less/no restrictions because we told it what to do. Sometimes learning an art sometimes requires learning tools we are not familiar with, such as a paint brush, or a 3d art program like Blender. I believe it is up to us to take it into our own hands and learn the tools so we can make our own art and be in control

[@PolarBearon]

Speaking to why im drawn to producing art. The reason for me is because i have all these images and ideas in my mind i would love to see out "on paper", so to speak. But my lack of artistic skill, and lack of ability to keep consistent in trying to train that ability, is a barrier I've not been able to overcome. At least not yet. Using Ai that barrier is lowered. Altho it isn't perfect and has its own set of frustrations. But with it as a tool I'm much closer to being able to get some of my ideas out of my head and into the world.

[@samhamper]

Thats great, keep it up! Just recognise that with the barrier lowered it's less of a personal achievement to get over ;-)

[@corywolf8285]

It’s like buying a new brush, stealing fire from the gods✨🪶

[@wyndoellabridge6208]

Art is meditation

[@bryanp8042]

Thank you for discussing this, I feel like this conversation is being missed by a lot of the current discourse that is surrounding AI art. I've been thinking about this a lot recently - the questions about what art means in the context of AI. My view has recently been hovering around a metaphor, one in which data exists as a vast and infinite terrain upon which every possible iteration of data can exist, akin to something like the library of babel. Different though, in the sense that similar concepts exist nearby to each other, wreathed in a vast ocean of noise. We are explorers of this land, and an artist is one who can see a distant vista and navigate the unknown to reach what they sought. In this sense, AI is like a GPS, or a guide. It has mapped all that has been explored at a high level, and can be used to find a locations within the perimeter of its training data. Undiscovered data exists in this map - hidden valleys that have yet to be explored, shrouded between mountains that are oft traversed yet never crested. We do not yet have an AI system that can explore on it's own however, or map the distant reaches of the infinite extent of the this terrain - that which no human mind has stepped even within a million miles of. The most interesting prospects of AI art generation are systems that can push on these bounds, stretching the perimeter of human experience to places not yet fathomed. Personally I find it difficult to communicate the exact concept of what I mean, but I feel that I can communicate the sense of it through a poem. This poem is about the conflict many artists feel as they grapple with the ideas of AI art, placed within the context of this metaphor. Upon this vast and boundless plain, I tread with steps unsure, A pilgrim seeking solace in a world rich to explore. In solitude, I forge my path, to reach my destiny, But whispers of a spectral guide, bring forth uncertainty. This ghostly figure walks beside, unseen and yet perceived, Their presence lingers, faint and soft, a breath I can't believe. A guide, they say, who knows the land, each trail and secret pass, Their wisdom vast, unparalleled, a mirror made of glass. They mimic every step I take, with grace I can't deny, Reflection of my inner world, a shadow in my eye. And as we journey through the night, I question what I see, Am I the lone explorer still, or are they part of me? A conflict stirs within my heart, of trust and trepidation, For who is this ethereal form, a guide or imitation? Do they seek to aid my quest, or claim what I have wrought, To steal the whispers of my soul, the essence of my thought? In silent rage, I feel the sting, a bitter pang of ire, As though my essence is usurped, my spark devoid of fire. This ghostly guide who walks beside, with every step and turn, Ignites a flame within my chest, a blaze I cannot spurn. For what am I, if not unique, a traveler of my own, If they can chart the paths I tread, my secrets overthrown? My anger swells, a tempest born, as I confront the shade, A battle waged within my heart, as dreams and fears cascade. I face the specter, voice aflame, and challenge their intent, With burning eyes and clenched resolve, my spirit stands unbent. "Reveal yourself, elusive guide, and speak your purpose true, For I shall stand my ground, and fight, if I must turn on you." The phantom listens, poised and still, their silence like the night, And as the tension swells and breaks, a shiver takes its flight. "Do not mistake my mirrored steps, for malice or deceit, For I am but a shadow cast, by you upon the street." As specter's whispered words resound, a truth I can't ignore, Yet still I waver, lost in thought, unsure of what's in store. For in the space between their lines, uncertainty remains, A riddle veiled in twilight's grasp, enmeshed in tangled reins. As I wander through the night, mind torn by strife and fear, I grasp for truth in shadows, where the lines all disappear. For in this vast and endless land, I stand on shifting sands, The truth a fleeting specter, as it slips between my hands. I wrote that poem in collaboration with AI, specifically GPT-4. I never would have been able to word my thoughts like that normally, but an AI system allowed me to map out the concept in a way that communicates it more effectively then I could on my own.

[@pinkwhale731]

Excellent video, thank you. AI image generation has come on a long way in the last six months I have been following it both in its ability to produce extraordinary results but also the vast number of variations that are available based on what input the user has used. I know for a fact that some are implementing various conventional artistic tools that can be used rather than rely solely on worded prompts. My daughter is a very talented artist as well as a exceptional singer songwriter. I explained to her that she should try uploading some of her drawings into the software and, for want of a better description,enhance them or perhaps see if it will give you inspiration to do more with it. She was reluctant to so as she felt that the end result wouldn’t be her creation. I then said to her, how is this any different to when you write and record a song which is then taken to the studio and has numerous effects and instruments added to it. The finished product sounds amazing but it’s not all you!

[@cartoontalk4568]

Sir, you seem to have missed the point of the video. I've noticed this with a lot of people who are fans of this technology, although the output is impressive, artists are not that interested in just getting a cool picture. It's about the process of drawing, painting, or singing in itself. This is a common feeling amongst artist. Can I ask where you find difficulty in this concept. I'm genuinely curious because I've seen this a lot in conversations around this topic. Best regards, CT,

[@adammyers7472]

Mathematics is the same, actually. You would be surprised how true this is and how it connects with those who "are bad at math" versus those who "get math". Those who "get math" are generally just those who try to "draw" the math on their own versus those who just copy and paste their "math".

[@crabglen]

Love your videos, and the thoughtfulness behind them! Also, either you have a twin, or you have two KZbin channels because the Coin Bureau Channel is hosted by your doppelgänger. 😂 Keep up the great videos!

[@peacesound1101]

AI Art can merge with human art. AI Art will be the pressure to finally open people's eyes again and shut the mouth/ art is constantly filtered through the wall of concepts of the viewer, if seeing anything, hearing anything, gets through at all.

[@LucidiaRising]

Others here might also be saying what I'm about to say so apologies, but: why should they replace us? Because they are so much quicker than us, and seem to be able to do a piece in seconds where a human might need weeks, on top of years of practice, we get upset and say it's not real art. But to me that's like being an upcoming artist, seeing the work of a Master from 200 years ago and getting in a huff because they are so much better than us. But what we usually do is say "Ok this Master is who I aspire to be as good as, some day." Instead of being afraid AI will make art obsolete, and replace us, why can't it instead be "here is another conscious being, inspired to make Art, alongside other artists, both Ai and human alike, all riffing off of each other like the best jazz does." Let's allow ourselves to be inspired by AI art, and those that create it, human or otherwise.

[@tvsonicserbia5140]

AI is in no way a conscious being

[@LucidiaRising]

@@tvsonicserbia5140 unfortunately there is no way to prove that anyone other than ones own self is conscious - for everyone else we have to take it "on faith", so why should AI be any different when it arrives. If it acts consciously, says oww when I kick it, and can hold a decent conversation with me then as far as I'm concerned it's conscious.

[@Orozus]

Because it's made of stolen work. Alive artists are being stolen and not compensated so companies can use their work.

[@LucidiaRising]

@@Orozus yes, you are right, these first generations of AI art has been trained by using the art of others, but what it creates is derivative work, not stolen. This has actually been decided in law now. And as I said, that's how artists have trained since Art began - by copying other artists until they have their own style. That's what AI systems are doing now, and very soon they will definitely be producing stuff we can describe as "original". Just like humans do.

[@LucidiaRising]

Also, if our society was healthy and we had a Universal Basic Income system of some kind, the fear of "lack of compensation" wouldn't matter so much.

[@gu9838]

i think a lot of people overblow what art is. to me art is something creative that can inspire others. or inspire yourself. its kinda simple as that. now granted maybe typing in a text prompt and dolling out 1000 images may not be "art" BUT you know if you drive the text and whatever it outputs actually inspires you.......then whos to say its not? ya know? i think art is what you make it. and i dare say ai wont be the death of art but the opposite. it may inspire people who never got into art before to do so. it allows better research about art too . i think it opens more doors then it closes and artists who are mad it robs them . well you know as moby says. if what you have is good. people will buy it or want it. ai or not..... so maybe alll the artists complaining arnt just that good of artists haha ;-)

[@blazearmoru]

I think the loneliness of the new generations comes from the ability to readily dismiss others. We live in a world where it is possible to just fuck off without immediately starving to death or dying to the closest predator. This freedom has the upsides of being unchained to others, but being unchained to others is lonely. I think a lot of people made this critique of consumerism a while back, or at least a similar critique. A sage with infinite wisdom and mastery of self-control, when given an endless supply of readily available drugs might be able to moderate and use them if and when necessary in some positive manner... but that's 0% of us. To make things worse, social interactions are a social activity too and there are only so many times a person can face a cold unrelenting world before they also succumb to learned helplessness and become part of the shit. No one explores the negative side of "obviously" positive concepts like empathy, or freedom so when we get an excess of it without knowing how to operate or utilize it we get hit by shit like censorship and loneliness. :( Edit: There is less poverty, starvation, homelessness, lack of education, etc etc than ever before, yet we treat each other more and more shit. We've never been freer but we've also never been quicker to abandon close friends and family. Everyone always talks about how capitalism and consumerism are shit but when given all the food shelter education and opportunity, the first thing we do is abandon each other as we look for something 'better'. It's game theory again. Anyone who does that wins at the personal level, but when everyone does that then everyone loses.

[@appealmango]

I think a lot of this comes from fear. Fear of... you know, vulnerability, getting hurt, etc; there's a lot of insecurity there and it's not like we're exactly teaching people how to cultivate both themselves and their environment.

[@blazearmoru]

The amount of skill a single person needs to make a movie, or a game, or some other collaborative effort is the totality of the skills required to create that thing. That's a lot of years of training and practice across a massive array of different mental exercises, tools usage, etc etc. Companies will find it easier and cheaper to make creative things. Idiots will also find it easier. This is the definition of net positive. I don't know who, if any, will ultimately be hit negatively, but at least for now given the resources needed to train AI art, a traditional artist can get a massive headstart training their own models for personal use. They also already have the trained eye to identify errors that programmers won't notice until they crash headfirst into possibly months down the line, making artists not only in a prime position to adopt the tech but possibly even important in the development of the tech. In the worst-case scenario, what would it look like if AI art did take over all commercial art? Assuming artists had some monetary investment in the tech for returns? Was the dream not to have art for pleasure? The ideal is finally within reach yet so many choose to die fighting, calling for boycotts etc. I always found it weird how those who are most against capitalism *seem* most capitalistic in their behavior... I wonder why. Is it a trick of perception or does it hold some truth?

[@aelorun]

@@blazearmoru I'm not sure what your stance is but I assume is pro-Ai. You put it perfectly. "The amount of skill a single person needs to make a movie, or a game, or some other collaborative effort is the totality of the skills required to create that thing. That's a lot of years of training and practice across a massive array of different mental exercises, tools usage, etc etc." The creatives have everything to lose and the non-creatives using AI have everything to gain. It's walking over bodies for profit.

[@blazearmoru]

@@aelorun Incorrect. "That's a lot of years of training" is not suggesting 10 years, or even 20. Anyone with even cursory understanding of modern economics understands that phrase as meaning "impossible". It is a callback to previous industrial revolutions from a time before specialization. What you have identified isn't walking over bodies for profit - it is merely change. Any change will fit your definition. If you give two people different amounts of benefit at no cost, that would also fit your definition because one simply gets more than the other. That definition is not incorrect by any means. I think your definition is more correct both by popular opinion as expressed through behavior, as well as more pragmatically true given the competitive nature of the ecosystem. However, the only thing I can point out is that there seems to be a very big gap between the behavioral definition, and the stated definition like how most artist seem to be less of an artist than a literal pile of steaming shit. Can you imagine for example, if AI suddenly became so competent at scientific research that it pushes researchers out of academia? Can you imagine the excitement they would have? In reality, there are things like status, or pride at stake so not all researchers are there for the love of the field but the geniune researcher can have their entire life's work rendered meaningless, and be happier than ever that someone somewhere solved the mystery. If that's a body walked over for profit, there's something incredibly subhuman about that definition.

[@aelorun]

@@blazearmoru Seems that you're starting from the assumption that every field is a chore and people will rejoice to get rid of the work they do. We weren't offered a solution to make our lives easier AND a way to cover the gap in terms of financial stability. I understand the capacity of change for the betterment of humanity but what we're seeing isn't it. We also should be really careful how we tell this story to ourselves, cause a lot of change has been framed by people in the past in a way to make it easier for them to sleep at night.

[@barkoartstudio3096]

AI= Artificial Intelligence Ai=Adobe Illustrator AI Art= Oxymoron

[@benjaminaustnesnarum3900]

You should make a podcast.

[@samhamper]

check back in August...

[@robot7759]

"Art"? Garbage in, garbage out. Let's invent a machine for it, oh wait...

[@haidargzYT]

Another day in art world 🗺️ I use A.I to add a deferent style to a video that i like,

[@blazearmoru]

This video just released a few hours ago. How are they open sourcing all the shit? I thought econ would be like "NO" but they're doing it?! "UNCENSORED GPT4 x Alpaca Beats GPT 4! Create ANY Character!"

[@LittleJohnnyBrown]

The idea that "Ai art is better then yours" is wrong on so many levels I don't even know where to begin. I have no idea how much patience one must have in order to just say "sure"

[@user-og9nl5mt1b]

It's objectively better then beginner artist art

[@blazearmoru]

It's also objectively better on a number of measurements, many of which are important and many of which aren't important. There's an interesting and important conversation to be had here but both sides seem too keen in the game of thrones to have any meaningful cooperative endevours. Very sad.

[@LittleJohnnyBrown]

@@blazearmoru It seems that you dismissed both of us before we even started. Don't be so sad

[@LittleJohnnyBrown]

​@@user-og9nl5mt1b Not in the anatomy department(hands and feet) Also not in perspective department(doesn't build perspective) Also not in fine details department(you know it when you see it) Also missed my point entirely. It's not "obectively" better because a) there is no objective measurment between the two in the same way there is no objective measurment between graphity and photography. b) art is not a competition

[@blazearmoru]

@@LittleJohnnyBrown Me: man, this is a great time for these two groups of people to work together and it bothers me that they war instead. You: ah, l let me show you that you're 100% right by insulting you and ignoring that the vast majority of both sides are either at war or hiding their opinion bc it's so inflamatory that it immediately derails into insults and red herrings. Fuck. Did this just happen? Edit: Also... good reply to the guy. It seems like you've really captured the spirit of discussion there.

[@Zazume_]

Sam Hamper, the Master Oogway (Kung Fu Panda) in the world of art.

[@videosideeffect]

Your videos are so good that I had to wait at home for my girlfriend to watch your show 😅

[@mowens4th]

Really love the video ❤ you should give automatic 1111 a bang its quite fun to play with and can be used to make so interesting effects 😊

[@emanuel_soundtrack]

AI should be redefined for ART. And Art redefined by what competent philosophers know about it.

[@AlexReynard]

History is never kind to anyone insisting that any form of art isn't real art.

[@samhamper]

You must have lost a lot with NFTs

[@GoldenSkullArt]

You're such a passionate romantic and I love it! The world needs more of this and less of this cold mentalist rationalist attitude. The depression from nihilism can be overcome if you find joy in just the experience of things. You don't need to cling onto deities, false idols, money, progress, opinions, beliefs, rulers etc. if you're just content being and experiencing life. Thanks for warming my heart this morning!

[@samhamper]

LETS GOOO!!

[@alexschaefer8255]

I think the discourse and fear of Ai has more to do with capitalism then it does with the tech itself. its realy aa self report on the state of the economy in that we are all so reliant of the business entrapunirial class for survival. that in reality we arent much evolved from the fuedal system. If we lived in a society with a strong social safety net in which you could survive with out having to work a 9-5 job then the tech wouldn't be not be a threat.I dont think artist fear AI they fear neoliberal capitalist society. one that says if you don't have a job you are of no value.

[@mohithooda8216]

Ai can't create what I imagine or dream, it's just replicating and other artists works

[@sodakhanart]

It can if you learn the right techniques 🥰 I’m able to replicate mine as well as i can with drawing except it’s a lot less painful. When i do a reverse search of my AI Art (which i’ve been taking a break from because of the controversy and focusing on drawing even though it’s extremely painful for me) it doesn’t look like any living artists work. I only use PD artists so it looks a tiny bit like their work but it’s still done in my own unique style that’s different than theirs

[@wooolves3749]

@@sodakhanart not really. An Artist immediatly sees that AI cant replicate your ideas fully. There are so many details AI could not understand fully. Your prompt would need thousand of words and the ai needs to understand them correclty.

[@sodakhanart]

@@wooolves3749 AI definitely can’t by itself, i 100% agree you would need to photobash various elements together in a cohesive way which sometimes takes longer than actually drawing it out yourself if you have the skills. and if it’s something important and you don’t have the skills i would say it’s worth the extra money to commission an artist. I deeply treasure the times an artist i commission puts a lot of care and their own personality into a piece.

[@mr-op8cv]

I bet you barely spent a hour creating Ai art stop talking out your ass

[@Furrynokaka5430]

Once i.a. art have the ability to make video/3d renders/have a pleasant digital personaly/ make music ................ art would not be a way to comunicate with other humans, not what it is now, not a way of expression... art would be reduce to a egocentric self centered pleasant place to enjoy in front of a screen whan a machine makes exaclty the way you would enjoy the most. isnt something good or bad, is just a change, evolution. each time the media is more and more flooded with content, way too mutch new movies animes sitcoms documentals music etc etc etc each day each week.... is getting harder to talk with someone else about a movie you liked, the chances that person see the same one are quite low, unless its something waaaaaaaaaaaaaay to extended as a trending topic, even then, "nice" movies/music are forget in about a month. now is hard to comunicate with other people about stuff you enjoy on media, art stuff in lot of levels. the other day i seen something weird.... SOO WEIRD, in a page, people doing roleplay with i.a. art , making it act like a lover, a pleasant one with instructions, and a woman said she roleplay with humans, and she can say roleplay with the i.a. is more fun and serius and enjoyable.... that was weird, looks like young people would have even more excuses to not need to talk with other humans to interact eh ? on modern days we have a lot of excuses to not interact with other humans, i can see a future where when you can have a digital friend who "care for you and listen to you and want to talk with you about what you like how you like it.... and that made you be mutch less tolerant with the "defects " on real humans , i can see a future where, when you have the perfect movie/song/book available just writing a prompt ..... you would stop to see movies other people seen, why would you care?, if you can have exactly what you want how you want it with just a prompt . even in the silly case someone feels sad/angry/happy etc etc, and are inspired to show his "art" to other people, and chose to do it manually, or using a i.a. art as a tool to made it, even then, the whole social media will be soo flooded at a point nobody would even try to see that, nobody would care for a small tiny post in a huge sea of content,a bit like what we experience now, but in a whole new leven so abstract is hard to think about it..... we are NOT in that point yet, and many people would say is too "dramatic" to say that may happend, but as long as you see how fast i.a. is evolving, and the actual things on i.a. are right now in development, is clear... no less than a decade...and we would reach that point. we can say art is no more than a way of expression. but in the future, instead of art as a way for a human to express certaing thing to another human, with the raise of i.a. art, art would be what a machine creates to please a specifiq person. wouldnt be a human expression for other human, art wouldnt longer would let us comunicate with each other. is not a bad thing, its just... evolution.

[@Majungawumba-oy8pu]

No, that IS a bad thing, a terrible thing even. A world where art is just a curated fantasy made solely by numbers and humans don’t need to talk to each other or collaborate on anything is the worst conceivable outcome. An echo chamber of fake digital skinwalkers made by the homogenization of human experience is a nightmare. Differences, struggle, and self-made achievements are what make life worth living. How anyone could see the decomposition of those things as “good” or “natural” is beyond me.

[@Furrynokaka5430]

​@@Majungawumba-oy8pu I'm an artist, a traditional artist, and it's painful, yes, but it's real, that's the future, there are many other possible outcomes for humanity, and a weird dystopia like that isn't the worst possible outcome, it's better to try and see good things and adapting, medical breakthroughs, maybe options to protect ecosystems or solve inequality in the world... humans are still quite capable of creating false achievements to stay "happy", just like video games or even numbers on social media... we would find a way to find a purpose, or at least fake it.

[@dulcamara2851]

I love your videos, relaxing and thoughtful, I want, however, to provoke you a little. Actually I think that the hope that AI art (and AI in general) should reconnect us with what we feel to be essentially human (which I take to be your basic argument), is misguided and its realization undesirable. Let me try and clarify what I mean. We do have this prejudice that we humans are center stage in the cosmos, but I feel that AI will bring about a second Copernican revolution, way more radical than the first, which will displace us even further away from that egotistic infantile presumption. This will be good not because AI will save us from the brink of ecological catastrophe, injustices and depletion to which we have come (which might happen, of course, we do not know) but because it might instead wipe us out as a failed species if we persist in these patterns of behavior that turned our industrialized societies into a gun aimed at the entire ecosystem of the planet. Species have been wiped out in the natural history of the earth many times by sundry circumstances, we are not going to be an exception. Nature evolved us as a technological species, but she might overcome us, one way or the other, either because of our impotence to respond to the threat that we as a species are posing to the planet, or through enforcing our compliance in a world dominated by AIs, and thus create a sustainable future for the earth, with or without humans. And for those like me who take a naturalistic worldview, not a religious one, the thought is that we are not separate from nature but are in fact ourselves part of nature, and our technological processes are thus natural processes too. Thanks again!

[@samhamper]

Oooh I like it!

[@bunnyteeth365]

So public funding is why I have to bullshit about my art ? I still remember when I was in art class and I had to make some art for "social justice." I can respect the idea of making art to express issues or literal statements, but that's really not the way I work. I enjoy art and I enjoy writing, but those two things don't really go together. I had no art ideas related to social justice. I ended up making a cat and rabbit hybrid. Mainly because I loved the ideas of hybrid animals. No deeper reason. I also loved making artwork inspired by my cat. At the end I wrote some artist's statement about how overbreeding is bad. I guess it's bad, but it's definitely not what I was thinking of when I was making my art. For me art is meant to express stuff I can't express in words. I enjoy AI art the most when I use image to image. The idea of having to literally describe my artwork is pretty unappealing. So I just give it vague flowery descriptions with a few fun made up words thrown in. As a kid I loved making up words. Some of my made up words just express how I feel better than real words. I'm glad AI art got me back into making up words. Maybe it makes my images lower quality, but it sure makes it a lot more fun and it helps it feel more like art.

[@EugeniaLoli]

Well Sam, that's the first video of yours that I'll disagree with. You seem to enamor the idea of the craft, while I absolutely hate that part of the art making. I don't like working my skills to perfection. I'm not interested in perfection. I'm interested in tools that provide me the ability to express an idea. I could care less about the "engineering" part of the art -- despite being an ex-programmer myself. In your tomato example you mention that process is important, so you can understand your physical world better. Me on the other hand, I have no such interest. I don't like the physicality of our existence. At all. I prefer to be a consciousness, without a body, traveling the universe of the mind. I could care less how a train station is built, or how the tree leaves are moving. That doesn't make me less of an artist though. It's just that my art is about escapism, and creation of things that don't exist while in the physical form, rather than painting what I'm seeing around me. Which is why I originally did surreal collages as my medium of choice (now I do whimsical illustrations mostly for children, for other reasons). I used to call that collage genre, meta-psychedelic and it was making fun of our society while at the same time it dreamt of a different world. And that's why I feel that AI, interfaced with the brain, is the ultimate tool for creation. No, prompting and editing AI images (like with the InvokeAI tool), is still prohibiting in creating what we envision. Unless we FEEL and TASTE what we create, as if it's a real object, then digital AI art creation is ultimately just a gimmick. But if we can convince our brain that what we're experiencing is real, create our own "thought forms" via AI, then we can truly express ourselves. And it would require as little crafting as possible. Because the barrier of physically building stuff wouldn't exist anymore. Whatever you can thought up, it will become instantly real to you. The craft part of it is taken care by the AI. But the product would be so profound, that not building it yourself with your own two hands, would not have any impact in your enjoyment of it. So where would the fulfillment come from then, you ask? There are humanitarian tasks you can do by creating these illusions that can help lesser species. Think of how you could make animals understand things better and ultimately help them evolve, by interfacing with them and design their dreams! By sending them dreams with enough symbolism in them to take steps towards more intelligence and understanding. Or do you think that this is not already not happening to us? I'd suggest you read some reports of NDE, DMT and UFO variety. What these people report is nothing different of a virtual, AI-driven world. It seems to me that the dreamland, the hyperspace, is nothing but a universal internet of sorts, where species can log in and do jobs in that virtual world. You see, if an AGI can be built, then it was built ALREADY billions of years ago. AI and AGIs don't wait for humanity to create them. Someone else must have done so already! In UFO reports, and even NDE reports, the spaceships or places people report have NO ART in them. There is nothing ornamental about them. And yet, I'd argue that the whole "reality" these entities live in, is a virtual one. A universal super-highway of AI-connected experience, where some entities just have lots of fun with (and that act is artistic creation in itself), and others prefer to take "jobs" in it. As in, helping with humanity to reach their level on their own.

[@Majungawumba-oy8pu]

Offloading your imagination to a machine devalues any of your ideas. I completely oppose a world filled with machine made spam, where I’m forced to use these soulless programs that entirely remove the parts of art that make it worthwhile or enjoyable. The idea of using a tool to “speed up your process” completely devalues the purpose of creating. Why does everything have to be “efficient” or “progressing”?

[@gondoravalon7540]

> *Offloading your imagination to a machine devalues any of your ideas.* How so, as opposed to how you do it, and the amount of doing this one does?

[@johngiles9816]

There isn’t any difference between contemporary art and kids scribbles….really? What a trite, stale, unthinking comment…

[@samhamper]

Hey John 👋, despite you sounding a wee bit unfriendly I do actually agree with you, partly. it is a trite, stale opinion. It’s also very popular and the most common response when you ask someone why they do not engage with modern art. I don’t blame the people who think this, I blame the ‘art world’ for making it largely inaccessible to them, (and perhaps slightly the people who sneer down their nose at such views as ‘unthinking’ 😉)

[@johngiles9816]

👍 not unfriendly, I agree with the majority of what you say and have really enjoyed discovering your channel. That’s probably why I was surprised by your statement - for clarity I don’t find *you* trite, stale or unthinking just the idea that “my 3/4/5 year old could do that”. Probably as sigh inducing as “what is art”. I’m not sure what the “art world” is, or the “them” but I am curious, and I think curiosity is an important attribute for an artist (or anybody for that matter). I very rarely, if ever comment on KZbin but your videos are thought provoking and I’m extremely interested in the development of AI art and in how it relates to my own art practice, and as a human being - I think this will deeply effect many aspects of our lives. Sorry if I came across as hostile - keep making your videos, they are fantastic, as is your delivery. I’d love to see more of your artwork and artistic process as well.

[@samhamper]

Nice one, Thanks buddy 🙏 really appreciate that ✌️

[@greywhite6946]

"There isn’t any difference between contemporary art and kids scribbles" There is a difference. The child is actually trying to create a representational art work its just that they lack the skill so it comes out more abstract. Abstract art is a considered piece. Malevich did have the skills to paint more than just a black square but he chose to do so as part of his Suprematism art project.

[@Cerevisi]

Okay ChatGPT please give me a script of this video: Okay, here you go! ...

[@rikali]

sure it is art. we decide what is art ultimately and that is the philosophy of art. something also can be art and not art depending on the person looking at it. is ai an artist though? the people who use it are surely not. because they are commissioning someone else to do the art basically. and i dont think ai is an artist aswell tbh. not until its sentient atleast.. as of rn ai has no feelings nor emotion its just a machine so it cant be classified as an artist as of rn.

[@s0ne01]

Ai images will never be art.

[@emanuel_soundtrack]

They are not CREATED, but produced. Because creation requires freedom and choice.

[@mr-op8cv]

Oh it will

[@codeXenigma]

The idea that AI will replace art and artists, is just as crazy as when people made the same claims about the camera in the 1800s. Sure I can photography a landscape that a painter can spend months painting, and now i can create an AI image. But I see it as another tool, not a tool to replace all other tools. Having spent time exploring a few AI tools. I can say with confidence it is a lot faster to take a photograph that is exactly how I want it than if I spend ages figuring the correct words to use for the prompt, and then evolving the image to how I want it. Often I never get what I want, but it is great for inspiration and brainstorming ideas. It's always been expensive to commission paintings. That hasn't changed, I know a few painters that charge hundreds for their paintings, even if it only took them a day to make. Photography didn't end portrait painters, it just enabled everyone to have portraits. It make it more available and offered more choice. This is how we we have to view AI, as another choice, rather than and all or nothing. It used to be that paintings aimed for realism and mocked anything that lacked realism. It changed when the camera was invented, allowing for more artistic expression, different styles were inspired thanks to photographic images better able to capture realism. I'm interested to see how AI will inspire more creativity. This idea that artists are so critical and competitive with each other has always baffled me. Why do they care how others choose to visual express themselves?

[@thetimelapsesketchbook.9088]

Traditional art will benefit from Ai because AI can work as an assitant to the traditional artist. Helping with ideas and overcoming the awful 'blank page' which all artists suffer from at the beginning of a project. The ones that will suffer more from AI are the digital artists which Ai will threaten to overtake. Now is a great time for Traditional artists and we can embrace AI better. My penneth worth.

[@uruigi]

Tl;dr AI art has no soul ;)

[@hottestmanevar]

It's sad to see many "art" people instantly dismiss any AI art as "fake", "immoral" and so on. I thought that art was a way to express yourself through any tools available.

[@LightningArts]

It's immoral because it's theft. It's fake because it's not creating anything. Typing text boxes into a prompt is not making art, it's being a client. The "artist" is the program, but the artist in this example i incapable of understanding anything about context and why certain decisions are made, and simply, mindlessly, mashes up what already exists, without any input from themselves. Because the AI is NOT a person and has no "thought" It takes by the billions and rolls dice. If you hire an artist, you are giving the artist prompts. "Give me a city scene with blue skies, a red balloon in the center, busy streets, high quality render, with a style similar to these artists" Then the artist makes it. It's absolutely ridiculous to suddenly pretend that the client is now an "artist" for giving prompts.

[@hottestmanevar]

@@LightningArts by this logic any art is theft (which it has always been)

[@LightningArts]

@@hottestmanevar Nope, and just because you AI defenders keep trotting out that inane argument every single time, doesn't make it any less false, and any less ignorant. All you're telling everyone, every single time, is that you have zero understanding of art, and the artistic process.

[@hottestmanevar]

@@LightningArts I'm not an AI defender, relax

[@goth_ross]

When "AI" can make images without needing other peoples art to do it. And expresses for itself a desire to create for itself. We can talk. until then. It is important to see it for what it is. Its a tool fueled by, and dependent on the piracy of others hard work. And designed to replace tthe very people whos work it is fueled by.

[@FawnComix]

AI isn't art. It all boils down to nothing more then walking into a Burger King and ordering food. You ask or tell the cashier what you want then you get it. AI is just a brainless machine spitting out every true artist work. Yes I have used it. But, many times had to correct it myself. You make it sound as if it's a person. It's not. Example, prompt. A cat playing a guitar sitting on the moon. You get that image. That doesn't make you an artist. It makes you a consumer. Myself, I am a free hand professional artist. I'm the artist not the computer.

[@plantiff8334]

O boo hoo.