EI vs AI
Artificial. Intelligence. Take a moment. Just think about those two words.
Running Eric Imagines as a business owner and doer, I’ve been watching and learning about AI. And I’ve been asked lots of questions lately about it too.
Examples: “What do you think of AI? Do you use AI? Have you added AI to your workflows? Oh you’re an artist / designer, that means you use AI right? Why aren’t you using AI for X, Y, or Z tasks yet?” I don’t have all the answers, but I have my answers.
Dueling truths
In the broad context of “art” AI is positioned as “enabling more people to express themselves creatively.” (Words from the Adobe MAX 2023 conference keynotes.) Further, AI is useful for “removing mundane tasks from creative workflows.” For instance with photo-editing in Photoshop. Why would any of these things be bad? Right?
But there’s another side. AI welcomes new levels of mediocrity and laziness into product development. It enables more piracy of others work. And for some, it’s just a way to make a quick buck. And yes, I hear the “those things have always existed argument.” But never before has something held the potential to permanently damage our view of creativity as the human gift it is. The implications are deep.
So far, my instincts tell me to walk carefully next to AI. Doing enough research to understand its capabilities, but using enough caution to remain balanced in my views. To me, the champions of AI often come across as icy opportunists. Some use grandiose rhetoric about AI elevating us to god-tier levels of productivity. It’s not surprising. After all, there’s big money to be made and stakeholders to please.
But where does this new reality leave the gentle artist? Or the eager creative, who’s perhaps just starting to ponder a body of work? Or the designer who still believes their work is the gift?
Drawing lines
Each of us in the creative professions must decide how deeply we will allow AI to influence our creativity. It’s a personal decision. Here’s where I’m at overall:
I’ll use AI to edit, not author – One example is writing. I do all the writing for the fictions I create. Whatever measure of good I achieve as a writer, it’s my work. AI comes in at the copy editing stage to help me scrub for errors and refine grammar. Additionally, I work with copy editors when it comes to getting perspectives on style and overall writing spirit.
I do not use AI to generate final art assets – Not for my clients. Not for the products I create. If a company or individual uses AI to generate a final product for sale, they promote goodwill by disclosing their use of AI and passing on any savings to supporters. As an example, if a tabletop game company uses AI-generated art to save money, being transparent and reducing retail prices shows respect for customers.
I put in the work – I create things from scratch. Whether it’s illustration, design, writing, or other, I’m the author. The work is me. AI comes in when I want to color-correct a piece, explore color variations and edit photos. However, I don’t type searches into online AI tools to help me generate ideas, create derivative images or help me draw vectors.
All work performed by owner
I saw that phrase on a painter’s truck once and it stuck with me. What a sincere and honest way of saying to the world: “Hey, when you hire me, you’re hiring me.” It bears repeating – as an artist and creative for hire, I do the work! I don’t see AI as a stand-in for my process or thinking ability.
The main concern I have with AI is organizations and individuals who see it as a replacement for art, for thought, for imaginative effort. This mindset represents a new enemy of creativity. Those who would replace human creativity with AI, demonstrate a belief that art is merely an expense to them. They see the process of creating compelling art as a waste of resources, rather than an investment in our collective creative culture. While it can be a useful tool, AI does not promote our humanity.
To sum things up, beauty has always been about more than the colors, forms or compositions present in a creative work. It’s about the perseverance, thought and imagination of someone. The commitments and sacrifices we make to bring good things into the world.
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UPDATE as of 12/20/23
Regarding #1 above – language translations are another area where using AI would be very beneficial! Especially as I develop new products to share. I’m researching options with the help of experts in the field.
–E
