I don't use any of the AI programs to write, and, while I am considering using them to create images of my fictional characters for presentation art, I would prefer to hire a human to do that.
I both write and illustrate my own works without any AI
For creatives it will have a lot more downsides than up, I believe that some people focus more on the result than the journey, and that is why the idea of this technology sounds very appealing. I take more pleasure from making a painting or writing a story than getting a like or two.
I also illustrate my own writing endeavours. As you say, it is much more enjoyable to create them myself than to use some generated mashup of someone else's work.
As a 'creative' person, I can't understand any reason for using AI when you're writing. I don't care what anybody says. I don't really want to learn how to use it, either. Ignorance is bliss as far as that goes. I can't understand how someone can say they use AI to generate plots for their stories...that's not you doing it, is it? Why would you write something and then put it through AI in order to improve on it? That's not you doing the editing. And now magazines are shutting down their submissions because of it. AI is like the kid in school looking over your shoulder, cheating off your test paper.
Maybe with Substack being available as a platform, readers will flock to it because of the honesty of the writing (or most, I would hope)? I'll never use AI for writing, but I do confess that I have used the picture "generator" here on Substack, and I apologize for that. (On a side note, it hasn't been very satisfying.) I get most of the pictures I find from Pinterest, but haven't really used a lot of them. I save them into my Notes app for myself because a picture is worth a 1000 words, and if an artist puts up something he's created using whatever software program is at his disposal, well, I'm at a loss there. If an artist is using a 'program' to create something, he's still being creative, and it's something he's chosen to do, which throws a monkey wrench into everything, because the new writer is going to say, "But I'm doing the same thing!" Except he's not. Are all those software design programs out there AI? Like Dreamweaver? I don't know. I don't use them.
It all comes down to integrity, and honesty to your vision of not only what is right, but what you want to leave behind. Is no one thinking that when you're dead and buried some person in the future is going to look at what you've written and all they'll say is, "yeah, but he/she didn't do it on their own. They used AI to generate their plots, or fix up their dialogue. They don't deserve all the accolades they won." At least when I die, they won't say that about my writing. They might say,"Mehh, he was just a hack," or, "He wasn't as good as some of the AI stuff out there," but that's okay, because they'll be saying that I was honest and true to myself.
Ben, Unsplash or pixabay (am I remembering that name right?) have free royalty-free photos. You never know with the source on Pinterest. Wikipedia Commons is another. An artist friend has noticed AI creeping into these photos as well.
As well, sometimes U can sketch something yourself, or use photos U have personally snapped- I find memes work beautifully as well in certain circumstances, or also the public domain photos U can download. I've never once used a.i. anything, I won't even enable my spy device to handle text to speech, I refuse to utilize any of that trash. I also realize that's just me & a lot of others jumped on all the tech bandwagons the minute they became available.
You are right to raise this! I have no problem with the use of AI for technical writing. For example, I have a friend who uses it for programming language. But I definitely don't understand using AI for fiction, I just don't get it. But I'm not worried: There will never be human parity in fiction, maybe in other fields, but not in fiction.
I agree wholeheartedly, and I have been meaning to write my own piece of this issue, not only because of artistic integrity, but because writing crystalizes thinking - it weeds out what’s chaff and what’s not. It’s possible, younger generations - already suffering from a critical thinking decline - are going to be more dogmatic than one can remember because they outsourced their thinking to AI for their entire lives. I’m seeing it everyday in my psychology tutorials I teach; I’ll ask a question, and they’ll type into CHAT GPT what it thinks the answer is. It’s very concerning - we also get inundated with AI generated lab reports! Anyhow, you’ve motivated me to write, thank you!
When I use Photoshop, I am using a tool to create, same as a pencil or paintbrush. When I tell an AI image generator to produce an image, IT is doing the creating, not me. If you were a true creative, you would see the difference. AI is NOT intelligent and is PROGRAMMING that takes over the CREATIVE PROCESS. Anyone presenting such work as his/her own is a FAKER.
"[AI generated art is] as fake as AI-generated text and can even cast doubt upon the authenticity of your text. Think of it this way: if someone lies to you, you are likely to distrust other things they tell you." Sounds right to me, Cargill. And for a writer to complain about AI generated writing while they, themselves are using AI generated illustrations, seems a bit hypocritical, does it not?
The development of AI is the logical continuation of the disinformation industry in general espoused by Big Tech billionaires to ensure that they have the levers of power firmly in their grasp. It’s AI’s effect on domestic and international politics and economics that should be worrying you and its use by the troll farms of the so-called strong men in countries that are clearly not democratic. Think deep fake and the damage that that can do. In comparison, fretting about AI’s influence on “creative writing” is decidedly small beer. Don't worry, AI will never be able to replace AC :-)
Some times we have to go after the little fish to catch the big ones. I agree that the impact on us creatives is small time compared to the impact on other aspects of our lives. But I had to start somewhere. Best wishes and happy belated birthday.
I was a film photographer, who saw digital coming. I went back to school to become a historian. I do not know where AI is going, but for certain, we are all going to have to adjust to an unfamiliar environment or die off in the process.
Standing is an adjustment, AC, that is, if one is quite used to sitting. Us film guys had to go digital or be gone. I see AI has having far greater impact, humans have little choice but to adapt.
Changing from one method of output to another is not the same as using AI to generate your movie. I use Photoshop, but I am the creator, not Adobe. With AI, that system is the creator. Thus the copyright issue. Please read some of the articles I linked to in my post here. Thanks and best wishes.
I agree, certainly. I have been playing with AI for images, and sure, I had to take a course in photoshop as part of my photography degree. I am confused about copyrights on the AI images I put in the ideas for. I will look at your stuff, for sure. Forewarned is forearmed. I am glad to be on the sidelines, observing. That is for certain.
Some will always jump on certain bandwagons and/or use tools of dubious nature. The "AI" right now is nothing better than the Algos I write about in Starshatter, my science fiction universe. Highly sophisticated algorithms capable of great levels of adaptability, information procurement, and a degree of replication. I agree with you that using these Algos, though it may appear they solve some issues, in all actuality, brings a ton of new problems into existence. The creative scene will be a hot mess in a couple of years, if people do not establish clear boundaries.
The overuse of these Algos might bring about a new era of insurmountable corporate and state censorship. That, or if we managed to hand things in a sensible manner, the golden era of the Indie creators.
If you have a relative, friend, or acquaintance who’s good at art and design, they might be willing to do it for you as a gift for your birthday or for Christmas! Just think about including it next time they ask what you want :)
Thank you so much for this, A.C.! Since starting on Substack, I’ve become increasingly concerned about the way AI creeps into everything - what’s going to happen to us creatives if AI takes away everything we can do to support ourselves and put beauty into the world? It’s going to take away a lot of the creative jobs, too, so I really don’t know what people are going to do to make a living or fill their time.
I’ve been thinking that we need to form something, some kind of guild that states “we won’t be using anything AI in any of our works, and we’re going to protect, promote, encourage, and sponsor beautiful and good creations made 100% by humans”.
To those who “occasionally I use it, but” or “I think about using it, but” please, just don’t use it. Think ahead to the effects AI will have if it’s allowed to take over - the mental and emotional effects, especially. If you think the world is bad now, it’s going to be worse. Life is going to be worse for the creatives. If you’re using AI in a private, casual context, okay, but if you’re putting AI out publicly, inadvertently or not you’re going to help seal the fate of creatives. I worry more about art than writing, to be honest, since AI art is everywhere! Everything MUST state that it’s made by AI, and I don’t understand the people who think they can copyright something a computer made.
I don't use any of the AI programs to write, and, while I am considering using them to create images of my fictional characters for presentation art, I would prefer to hire a human to do that.
There are tons of book cover designers and illustrators on places like Fiverr and Upwork looking for work... just saying ;)
I both write and illustrate my own works without any AI
For creatives it will have a lot more downsides than up, I believe that some people focus more on the result than the journey, and that is why the idea of this technology sounds very appealing. I take more pleasure from making a painting or writing a story than getting a like or two.
I agree. The process of writing and also creating the images for my articles, book covers, etc., is part of the experience.
I also illustrate my own writing endeavours. As you say, it is much more enjoyable to create them myself than to use some generated mashup of someone else's work.
As a 'creative' person, I can't understand any reason for using AI when you're writing. I don't care what anybody says. I don't really want to learn how to use it, either. Ignorance is bliss as far as that goes. I can't understand how someone can say they use AI to generate plots for their stories...that's not you doing it, is it? Why would you write something and then put it through AI in order to improve on it? That's not you doing the editing. And now magazines are shutting down their submissions because of it. AI is like the kid in school looking over your shoulder, cheating off your test paper.
Maybe with Substack being available as a platform, readers will flock to it because of the honesty of the writing (or most, I would hope)? I'll never use AI for writing, but I do confess that I have used the picture "generator" here on Substack, and I apologize for that. (On a side note, it hasn't been very satisfying.) I get most of the pictures I find from Pinterest, but haven't really used a lot of them. I save them into my Notes app for myself because a picture is worth a 1000 words, and if an artist puts up something he's created using whatever software program is at his disposal, well, I'm at a loss there. If an artist is using a 'program' to create something, he's still being creative, and it's something he's chosen to do, which throws a monkey wrench into everything, because the new writer is going to say, "But I'm doing the same thing!" Except he's not. Are all those software design programs out there AI? Like Dreamweaver? I don't know. I don't use them.
It all comes down to integrity, and honesty to your vision of not only what is right, but what you want to leave behind. Is no one thinking that when you're dead and buried some person in the future is going to look at what you've written and all they'll say is, "yeah, but he/she didn't do it on their own. They used AI to generate their plots, or fix up their dialogue. They don't deserve all the accolades they won." At least when I die, they won't say that about my writing. They might say,"Mehh, he was just a hack," or, "He wasn't as good as some of the AI stuff out there," but that's okay, because they'll be saying that I was honest and true to myself.
Ben, Unsplash or pixabay (am I remembering that name right?) have free royalty-free photos. You never know with the source on Pinterest. Wikipedia Commons is another. An artist friend has noticed AI creeping into these photos as well.
I use unsplash. That's what's on the Substack app.
Yes, thankfully, but you mentioned Pinterest that’s why I brought those sources up for you or anyone else on the thread
Ah, yes, Pinterest is another great source.
Not really. You can never tell if the images are copyrighted or not.
True, but plenty aren't.
I agree one hundred percent with your first paragraph here, Ben. Thank you for taking a stand.
As well, sometimes U can sketch something yourself, or use photos U have personally snapped- I find memes work beautifully as well in certain circumstances, or also the public domain photos U can download. I've never once used a.i. anything, I won't even enable my spy device to handle text to speech, I refuse to utilize any of that trash. I also realize that's just me & a lot of others jumped on all the tech bandwagons the minute they became available.
You are right to raise this! I have no problem with the use of AI for technical writing. For example, I have a friend who uses it for programming language. But I definitely don't understand using AI for fiction, I just don't get it. But I'm not worried: There will never be human parity in fiction, maybe in other fields, but not in fiction.
Thank you for the tip!
AI writing and images are boring. So people walk away.
Real people infuse their art with emotional context tha transports readers.
The wallet rules.
Meanwhile, we writers and artists are trying to get our work seen in a sea of fakeries. Sigh.
I agree wholeheartedly, and I have been meaning to write my own piece of this issue, not only because of artistic integrity, but because writing crystalizes thinking - it weeds out what’s chaff and what’s not. It’s possible, younger generations - already suffering from a critical thinking decline - are going to be more dogmatic than one can remember because they outsourced their thinking to AI for their entire lives. I’m seeing it everyday in my psychology tutorials I teach; I’ll ask a question, and they’ll type into CHAT GPT what it thinks the answer is. It’s very concerning - we also get inundated with AI generated lab reports! Anyhow, you’ve motivated me to write, thank you!
I personally think there is some confusion as to what AI is - and quite a lot of hot air around the why’s and wherefores of it.
The first confusion is the name. There is nothing intelligent about it. It is programming.
When I use Photoshop, I am using a tool to create, same as a pencil or paintbrush. When I tell an AI image generator to produce an image, IT is doing the creating, not me. If you were a true creative, you would see the difference. AI is NOT intelligent and is PROGRAMMING that takes over the CREATIVE PROCESS. Anyone presenting such work as his/her own is a FAKER.
Um, if you want to prove your point, don't use an article on wikipedia.
Actually, you just proved that you are incapable of rational thought. Bye.
"[AI generated art is] as fake as AI-generated text and can even cast doubt upon the authenticity of your text. Think of it this way: if someone lies to you, you are likely to distrust other things they tell you." Sounds right to me, Cargill. And for a writer to complain about AI generated writing while they, themselves are using AI generated illustrations, seems a bit hypocritical, does it not?
Yes, it does!
Sure does
The development of AI is the logical continuation of the disinformation industry in general espoused by Big Tech billionaires to ensure that they have the levers of power firmly in their grasp. It’s AI’s effect on domestic and international politics and economics that should be worrying you and its use by the troll farms of the so-called strong men in countries that are clearly not democratic. Think deep fake and the damage that that can do. In comparison, fretting about AI’s influence on “creative writing” is decidedly small beer. Don't worry, AI will never be able to replace AC :-)
Some times we have to go after the little fish to catch the big ones. I agree that the impact on us creatives is small time compared to the impact on other aspects of our lives. But I had to start somewhere. Best wishes and happy belated birthday.
Thanks A.C for the birthday greetings. Very kind of you.
Thanks for sharing this.
I was a film photographer, who saw digital coming. I went back to school to become a historian. I do not know where AI is going, but for certain, we are all going to have to adjust to an unfamiliar environment or die off in the process.
I strongly doubt that.
So, much ado about nothing then?
Just a call to stand strong against this danger.
Standing is an adjustment, AC, that is, if one is quite used to sitting. Us film guys had to go digital or be gone. I see AI has having far greater impact, humans have little choice but to adapt.
Changing from one method of output to another is not the same as using AI to generate your movie. I use Photoshop, but I am the creator, not Adobe. With AI, that system is the creator. Thus the copyright issue. Please read some of the articles I linked to in my post here. Thanks and best wishes.
I agree, certainly. I have been playing with AI for images, and sure, I had to take a course in photoshop as part of my photography degree. I am confused about copyrights on the AI images I put in the ideas for. I will look at your stuff, for sure. Forewarned is forearmed. I am glad to be on the sidelines, observing. That is for certain.
Some will always jump on certain bandwagons and/or use tools of dubious nature. The "AI" right now is nothing better than the Algos I write about in Starshatter, my science fiction universe. Highly sophisticated algorithms capable of great levels of adaptability, information procurement, and a degree of replication. I agree with you that using these Algos, though it may appear they solve some issues, in all actuality, brings a ton of new problems into existence. The creative scene will be a hot mess in a couple of years, if people do not establish clear boundaries.
Thanks. I agree. It is those clear boundaries that I advocate.
The overuse of these Algos might bring about a new era of insurmountable corporate and state censorship. That, or if we managed to hand things in a sensible manner, the golden era of the Indie creators.
I never use AI to write, and only use Grammarly to check for spelling and grammar mistakes.
I do use AI to create character art, and use it to work on ideas for Book covers.
I wish I had the money to have a living artist do covers, but I don't.
If you have a relative, friend, or acquaintance who’s good at art and design, they might be willing to do it for you as a gift for your birthday or for Christmas! Just think about including it next time they ask what you want :)
Maybe you have a skill to barter? eg an artist creates an illustration for you in exchange for you writing a blurb or bio or flyer etc for them?
Thank you so much for this, A.C.! Since starting on Substack, I’ve become increasingly concerned about the way AI creeps into everything - what’s going to happen to us creatives if AI takes away everything we can do to support ourselves and put beauty into the world? It’s going to take away a lot of the creative jobs, too, so I really don’t know what people are going to do to make a living or fill their time.
I’ve been thinking that we need to form something, some kind of guild that states “we won’t be using anything AI in any of our works, and we’re going to protect, promote, encourage, and sponsor beautiful and good creations made 100% by humans”.
To those who “occasionally I use it, but” or “I think about using it, but” please, just don’t use it. Think ahead to the effects AI will have if it’s allowed to take over - the mental and emotional effects, especially. If you think the world is bad now, it’s going to be worse. Life is going to be worse for the creatives. If you’re using AI in a private, casual context, okay, but if you’re putting AI out publicly, inadvertently or not you’re going to help seal the fate of creatives. I worry more about art than writing, to be honest, since AI art is everywhere! Everything MUST state that it’s made by AI, and I don’t understand the people who think they can copyright something a computer made.
That's a great dystopian story theme/plot on its own...