My Thoughts on AI
An extension of my second chat with Alvin H.
Greetings,
Last week, I had another chat with my friend
of . This time we talked about language, the Indonesian identity, and Artificial Intelligence. Feel free to take a look:Anyways, for this week’s post, I want to talk about AI. By that, I mean ‘AI-writing’ and ‘AI-art’. If you watched/listened to the video, you can probably tell that I’m not the biggest fan of ChatGPT. I’ve made use of it, but it’s honestly not my favorite thing. I wouldn’t go so far as calling it an abomination. Though as a writer, it is tempting. Regardless, it’s easy for me to dismiss ChatGPT as something silly, even if it is useful in some ways.1
On the other hand, I have made extensive use of ‘AI-Art’2 for my works. Just a quick look through Germanicus Publishing will show you some images that I generated with the use of Midjourney.3
AI-generated images are a game changer, no question about it. I know because I’ve personally benefitted from it. I’ve been able to generate images for my own works and put a flair to them in a way I wouldn’t be able to just 5 years ago.
On the other hand, the question of whether or not I’m short-changing some flesh-and-blood artist by using Midjourney for my book cover is something that’s on my mind. My justification is that I don’t have the kind of money to just hire artists willy-nilly. But I’ll admit that convenience definitely played a part. Generating images with an AI is faster; also, I don’t have to deal with human beings who may or may not cooperate with me.
Sure, Midjourney might give you wonky images or ones that are not remotely what you’re looking for, but you can always just re-generate new images. It’s certainly much easier to deal with than an artist giving you a picture that you don’t like, even if regenerating images on Midjourney feels like pulling teeth at times.
Thus, I’m reminded of Alexander Hellene’s article, Art from Hell. Seriously, read it if you haven’t. As readers may tell, he dislikes the very concept of ‘AI-Art’. While he has no issue with artists who simply use them as tools to help their own works, he rightfully fears the effects of this technology on art as a whole.
However, I want to end on a positive note. I do believe that ‘AI-Writing’ and ‘AI-Art’ are not a substitute for real life writers and artists. I’m not saying this out of bravado4. As someone who uses Midjourney a lot, I’m aware of its shortcomings. Indeed, I tend to avoid generating an image of a person unless I really have to; that’s why if one was comb through my works for AI-generated images, he’d usually see buildings or some sort of panorama.
While Midjourney has been tremendously helpful for me thus far, I await the day in which I can hire a real artist for my works.
Until next time,
Michael P. Marpaung
Like writing a cover letter for some company who seem to want you to sound like a robot for some reason.
Though AI-Generated Image is probably a more accurate term for it.
At the writing of this blogpost, that is.
As a flesh-and-blood writer myself, I’m aware of my bias regarding this topic.