On the use of AI

Like it or not, it's here, it's doing things, and it's not going away. You - yes, even you - use it every single day.

By trade I'm a web developer, and in the current job market I've had to get familiar, even friendly, with the use of AI. Like using a sewing machine: sure, that's not how they did it in 1535, but I'd be stupid not to make use of the technology. Like so many other innovations, it's a force multiplier, and it's made possible things that I could never have had time for.

Photography's arrival in the 1830s and 1840s shook painters, especially portraitists. Some painters, like Paul Delaroche, reportedly declared painting dead. That shock gave way to acceptance, as painters began using photographs as reference or picking up cameras themselves. Then came integration: photography's snapshot angles and unposed moments shaped Impressionist composition, while painting, no longer needed to record reality exactly, pushed toward color, brushwork, and eventually abstraction. A threat became a push for change, and now the two arts often work hand in hand.

In another couple of years the furor will have died down, some new buzzword will have taken its place, and AI will be yet one more commonplace tool in the creator's toolbox.

Let me be very clear, however: I am never in favor of stealing someone else's work, and for that reason I generally oppose the use of generative AI to create derivative works. Yes, AI is trained on other people's work and, thus, all of its output is derivative, but then, couldn't you apply the same criticism to DaVinci's students? To the students of any artist? 

Muslims in near death experiences never see Jesus. Likewise, Christians never see Muhammad. We create in our minds what we've learned throughout our lives. In other words, what we've been trained on.

The pictures of my tights are digital creations, made in Blender using photographs of real fabric and a 3d model of a dude. Photographs of my shirts feature face and body replacements done in AI. In both cases it's because I'm about 30 years past posting modeling pictures of myself. The shirts are real - those are photographs I took in my dining room. When the day comes that I can afford to pay models, I absolutely will, I promise. Today is not that day, so I use the tools I have available.