You may have seen online pictures of how celebrities who died prematurely would have looked in old age. Think Lady Diana, Heath Ledger or Michael Jackson. One such site belongs to Turkish photographer Alper Yesiltas whose project is called ‘As if nothing happened’. He uses AI photo enhancers as well as easily and freely available software.
There are also commercially available products which promise just the right picture for the message you want – just put in a one-word prompt. As one such photo provider says, “Finally, you’ll have the perfect picture to match your message. No more hunting for stock images...”.
In fact, Lensa AI is currently the most downloaded app on the iPhone. It takes your selfies and produces computer generated pictures – of you as space travellers or Renaissance type figures, or whatever key words you may have put in.
Generative AI works through a process of diffusion. This means that large datasets are put together to train the AI which is then able to devise new content which may resemble the input data, but is not identical to it.
Similarly, AI is used in advertising by putting in large amounts of emotive words to write a copy and headlines.
We may balk at such reduction of human creativity. After all, photographers spend hours getting the right shot and writers have spent hours and days to get across just the right idea, moment or emotion. What hope is there from a picture generated within minutes? The concerns are real. Concept artist and illustrator RJ Palmer said, “The main concern for me is what this does to the future of not just my industry, but creative human industries in general. Artwork such as illustration for articles, books or album covers may soon face competition from AI, undermining a thriving area of commercial art.” Can AI actually replace human creativity? The jury is still out on this. On the one hand, AI generated content is becoming popular because it is a new trend, but also because it is cost effective. It is better to download software than to have to employ designers or copywriters. It is also less stressful as the machines will not argue, or care about long work hours.
However, all may not yet be lost. When all is said and done, AI still has its limitations. This is best described by a designer who explains that the keywords ‘man as astronaut’ and ‘astronaut as man’ generate exactly the same visuals – because AI cannot really distinguish the changed focus of the relationship between the two.
Further, AI can’t handle concepts: emotions, connections, memory or dreams are all human qualities that make a work of art more than just a pretty picture. Similarly, AI cannot really confront ethical issues or consider what is appropriate.
Most importantly, people breathe passion into a project. This is more important than a random use of metadata to create the most common impression. As of now, AI is still a few steps behind the human mind.
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