Matt Hume - Untitled AI Article
by Matt Hume
Introduction
I made a little story post on Instagram, asking a couple of questions regarding a recent endeavor. Being naturally business-minded, I always enjoy learning new things and trying new tools. I had just resubscribed to Midjourney, and I've been subscribed to ChatGPT since its inception.
Being a student still in Uni, Chat GPT has saved me many... many hours of sleep yet multiple overnighters in the library. I had cleverly found out that if I fed Chat Gpt all of my past school papers, writings, and articles, which I had conveniently saved on a Google Drive, I could effectively program Chat GPT to write, undetectably (to professors), almost just like me. Not to say I spend a decent amount of time developing a prompt for each new paper, this coding system helps. However, it is still stuck in its terminology that I have last fed it. Being someone who grew up in a classical academy where we were forced to write so much. I do at times miss the originality. At times however there is none. I quite literally copy the canvas school assignment and paste the assignment into Chat GPT. Double check things to make sure it's good and doesn't look stupid, and submit. 5 min flat. Simple submission. The time I now have is an extra 30 minutes. What am I going to do with that time?
Like I said, I love learning and I have O’ so many ideas a day that I write down in a little note. Some are stupid, some are genius?, some require individuals, some require individuals and skills that don't yet exist, it takes time to find out.
Anyways, I made a story post about a recent lil endeavor. I have started developing in depth prompts. Basically describing inspiration photos I have in mind or having Chat GPT interpret my thoughts more in depth, then from there plugging into MidJourney, a visual image based AI. From there I was able to get some really quite believable and good looking imagery that for what my purpose I had in mind, would be perfect for a brand I want to work in the future.
I started to apply this method to a brand I have in mind which coincides with a certain form of style I aim for. Blending my style, others, and putting that into Midjourney. I decided to post about it.
But hold up. Something felt... off. I immediately took it down.
The emotions, felt like I was soiling what could be this company I so desired to build up. Something almost inhuman.
The next day I was on a call with Jared catching up but within the context I was talking about the brand I wanted to start. I mentioned how I was hesitant and had almost a distaste for AI. He asked if I could write a little bit about this concept of AI & Photography. I told him I would love to delve into the Ethics of it and to write this paper as my mind progressed. This entire article was written slowly, over a period of weeks. Developing my thoughts.
Humanity
Originality, character, detail, thought, time, romance, emotions, hurt, pain, grit, imperfections. These things makes us human. Alongside free-will which is the inherant and ingrained system built into humanity. One can debate about these topics endlessly but whats funny enough is, that is also what ironically makes us human. Without a separate mind or lack of difference what are we but a complex computer algorithm. There is no ingenuity.
To start I want to clarify a couple of things by defining Five words: Tool, Art, Inspiration, Creative, Emotion and finally Character. These are to keep in mind and set as a foundational aspect of the exploration I will dive into it:
tool /to͞ ol/ noun noun: tool; plural noun: tools
a device or implement, especially one held in the hand, used to carry out a particular function. "gardening tools"
a thing used in an occupation or pursuit. "computers are an essential tool" a person used or exploited by another.
COMPUTING a piece of software that carries out a particular function, typically creating or modifying another program.
art /ärt/ noun:
the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
in·spi·ra·tion /ˌinspəˈrāSH(ə)n/ noun
the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.
cre·a·tive /krēˈādiv/ adjective
relating to or involving the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work.
e·mo·tion /əˈmōSH(ə)n/ noun
a natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others.
instinctive or intuitive feeling as distinguished from reasoning or knowledge. "responses have to be based on historical insight, not simply on emotion"
char·ac·ter /ˈker(ə)ktər/ noun
the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.
Character
I want to introduce a little spectrum I like to call the ‘character’ spectrum. Basically as we dive into photographic images.
Example Here
This is an interesting theory where I think as we move more and more into the realm of perfection, sterilization and soullessness. Analog is king and reigns triumph in color and theory. Its the most truthful, chemically correct, characteristically perfection of beauty. Am I biased? Maybe a bit. But there is lots of history and about a decade of color perfection integrated within each film stock.
Emotion
I am an analog photographer by love, and a digital photographer due to money. I think there is a lot to be said and benefit to paying for analog film over digital. Along with that, not just from a color perspective but also a legacy perspective. Characteristics, that is, a bond with a repetitive ideal based on the repetitions, or instinct. Matching a film stock, with a distinctive lens, with a particular subject = Something fully, emotional, and unique. An utmost choice made by an individual. That... that is where the beauty takes away. Less focus on the image and worrying about editing later, but the thoughtful choice and dedication of combining different unique factors into a final art form. All ingrained and unchangeable. Once the shutter clicks, there is no going back. Painting is even more so, different colors, different mediums, strokes, brushes etc. All release a person's idea creating purposeful results.
This is something that is a complete contrast to AI. Intuition, and instinct are non-existent. One can not learn from mistakes that it can't feel.
Artificial Intelligence
Over the past 5-10 years we have seen a rapid acceleration in the development and incorporation of AI. Chat GPT, which seems to have been knighted as the king of AI, Midjourney, Google, IBM, and Nvidia. All major players, different cases and uses.
Every corporation is utilizing it, or at least trying to. The entire word is being overused and with that being said, seems insanely cheap. A name slapped on quite literally anything, knowing it will drive customers in... Well at least that's what the marketing team thinks. Its almost as if the entire world found out what a calculator is and are trying to tell everyone they do math on calculators now!!! But yes, there are some cool things, and there are scary things.
The scary things? Sure we could dive deep into the conspiracy or most likely what is a reality. Harvesting our data? Most likely already happened anyways. Instead of wanting to focus more on the good and ethical about its use; specifically in visual based AI.
So currently, what are its benefits? What are the list of tools visual based AI have to offer?
Photo Editing & Retouching
Creative Tools & Concept Development
Workflow Efficiency & Organization
Photography Education & Skill Development
Planning & Location Scouting
Creative Collaborations & Pitching
Content Creation
We can actually afford to utilize it ourselves. But what is the cost? Our own morality?
First off I want to be clear to say there have been many times in the advancement of tech to assist jobs. There is one slight difference though. Most of these jobs are technical.
Engineers went from hand drawing plans to doing it online with automated calculations and tools.
Manufacturing workers
Postal and Courier Services
Retail
None come to mind where artwork as an entity, besides being assisted, has been fully taken. The ones who have still have an option such as a furniture maker making custom furniture rather than manufactured. So what's the difference between that and photography/graphics design?
But as these automated jobs become more and more efficient, shouldn't that mean one thing? That we have more time to create art?
Art
Ai is for those who believe photos are less than art, or at least the application is. When there is a necessity for a certain specific thing. Such as a gap in a marketing plan? What is that photographer tasked? To create art? No, it is a structured plan to fit within a particular marketing plan. It isnt... art. Photography as art is different from a marketing plan. Once photography becomes so structured it becomes no different than another technical job.
Photographers and it’s Nemesis
What is a photographer's nemesis? Technological advancements?
Time is money. And the more time things take, that often means better quality and more control. Look at the resurgence of film. A medium so tedious, so methodical, yet so popular these days. $1, $1.50, $5 a photo? Any business person would say that is insanity. Yet, it is still paid for. Photographers shoot on it, prefer it, and content managers pay for it. And the circle of life moves on. Individuals will pay for what they think is best. Whether it be price or quantity, that's up to the company.
The consensus: Character, Medium, and Control. These are all things that are let go when you resort to AI.
So am I afraid of it? Not necessarily?
Do I think it is a tool that will grow powerful for the future? 100% Do I think it will take over photography? Heck no.
Do I think it will completely disrupt current brands who resort to using AI for their content? Yes. Why? Because simply, its cheap. Marketing material that costs pennies is shown to the world as cheap marketing. If that is how a company wants to be perceived, that is more than ok.
Inspiration
Writing this right now. Almost two weeks later. I think my final decision would be to keep AI conceptually and for inspiration. The randomity of it keeps it somewhat inspiring. A tool for inspiration and even if it was incredibly advanced, I still doubt I would use it too much. If anything, understand it, it has overrun the world, you can guide someone who is an expert in it and keep it in constraints.
Yet I should note, AI as a desperate form of inspiration.
After that, you can clock out, and go create art based on true inspiration and emotion.
