The Impact of AI
Recently I became aware that AI generated images have become incredibly accessible and it left me wondering about my practice of pouring effort forth to create paintings by hand when my friends on Facebook were producing stunning images in a couple of minutes using an AI app on their phone. Gulp. I expected it to knock the wind out of my sails, but the deeper I looked into it, the better I felt about this new tool. Here is what I’ve learned by reading the rights section of the agreement that I was required to accept if I were to use the site Midjourney. But before we go there, throw a glance at the gorgeous images I created.
My first day with AI was like taking an addictive drug. When I was at my day job, I made architectural period interiors the last couple hours of the afternoon. I ate a quick dinner at home then dove into creating ornate bird images all evening. It was like Cheetos, Netflix, and Cherry Garcia all rolled into one, for me, it was hard to stop.
Does this owl image kind of blow you away? It does me, and I generated it by putting a few words together. Specifically, I typed in barn owl babies, forest, and Book of Kells. 40 seconds later, these lovely owls landed on my screen adorned with ornate borders.
The agreement I made with MidJourney states that on the $10.00 a month basic plan, I can use my images any way I want to. But, it seems- so can they. Here is what I copied from the agreement:
“Rights You give to Midjourney
By using the Services, You grant to Midjourney, its successors, and assigns a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, sublicensable no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable copyright license to reproduce, prepare Derivative Works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute text, and image prompts You input into the Services, or Assets produced by the service at Your direction. This license survives termination of this Agreement by any party, for any reason.”
They do offer a more expensive professional plan that bypasses some of the use and remix that is inherent to the site, so it might be possible to make images and keep them for one’s own use but exclusivity for the artist is not crystal clear. It also seems incredibly risky to upload original sketches or paintings that you want to alter. If they end up in a public chatroom on the site, you will put yourself in a position of defending your rights to the artwork that you created on your paper or canvas with real pigments.
Here is what I think works for AI. Once on the Midjourney site, the first characters you type are /imagine. That is exactly what you do next. Imagine.
In the case of Midjourney, the algorithms are producing works that have good balance, pleasing composition, repetition, and nice contrast. There is a good execution of keywords in many cases. For example, in this picture, I imagined a hawk, a night sky, a surreal jungle, a portal, stars, and Egypt. I see they used contrast well to create focus around the hawk. The plants, columns, and arch look mildly Egyptian. The crescent moon was a nice addition the program volunteered along with the requested stars.
The program understands some references but not others. A bit like me in my first year of art school. I knew what Art Nouveau was but not Art Deco. The program understands Book of Kells, but not medieval. Do the images inspire me? Absolutely! Are the wild roses I asked for actually wild? No. Is the red marking on the red-winged blackbird in the right place? No. Does the Art Nouveau arch allow enough room for the beak of the Great Blue Heron? No, again. The images have problems, but they do move my imagination and that works perfectly for me.
After viewing these AI morsels, I can imagine another childrens book, an owl quest across the Excellent Island of Eire - Ireland. When that book comes to life, My real-time paintings will no doubt reflect what I gained from this day’s adventure into AI. But my watercolor paintings will also reflect five semesters of art history that feed my mind to this very day, my own photographs of the barn owls that lived above my horse’s stall, and years of practicing my art.
AI is a new tool that I will be using for inspiration and you can expect to see it in my blog from time to time. I would be surprised if Michael Angelo or Frida Kahlo would have passed up using this fiercely powerful image-making mechanism, so why would I?