Ok. There, I said it. As an artist, and as a scientist (a geologist), I use artificial intelligence to aid me in my work. Now I will give you a moment to shout at the screen all the ways I am evil, or ignorant, or destroying the lives of my fellow artists and scientists. Don’t worry, I’ll wait.
….. let me know when you’re done…..
Now, would you like to know how I use A.I., or would you like to continue seeing me as an evil monster? Either way is fine with me. Made you’re decision? Ready to read on with an open mind? Thanks, I appreciate it.
Artificial Intelligence is a Versatile but Imperfect Tool
For many people, artificial intelligence is used as a way to brainstorm, and for the amateur artist it is used as a way to transform their ideas into something beautiful with very little effort. And there is an appeal in that use; it does create an avenue for the beginner to gain the confidence needed to learn how to create art.
There are ethical concerns with this use of course. Specifically two main areas that most people cite. And they are legitimate gripes, in my opinion. The first concern is what materials the AI is using to learn, and the second is the environmental impact of the computer hardware and software needed to operate the systems.
But both of these concerns are not caused by artificial intelligence itself. They are caused by the human beings that are designing the system. Going after artificial intelligence as the boogie man because an operator used stolen material is like blaming an oven for reheating stolen food. And as for the environmental impact, that should be improved. No argument there. But we are in the early stages of this technology, so some growing pains, changes, and improvements are to be expected. Remember, in the beginning, modern computers filled entire rooms, and used nearly 150 kilowatts of energy due in part to the vacuum tubes that were needed at the time to operate them. Today, a mere 80 years later, a basic computer which can do so much more uses on average 30 to 70 watts of electricity in a day. That is a massive change. There is no reason to believe that artificial intelligence would not follow that same trajectory given enough time.
Is artificial intelligence a perfect tool? Absolutely not. It needs to be improved. But it has an immense amount of potential.
A Source of Mind-Numbingly Boring Information
In my art, especially when I work with rocks and minerals, or metals (which is about 95% of what I do) there is a massive amount of information that I need to take into account to create something. For example:
- Melting and Forging Temperatures of various metals
- The hardness and reactivity of certain minerals
- Whether certain minerals or rocks could be poisonous in certain circumstances.
- How a particular material may react if struck in a certain way.
- The overall porosity of the material.
- What geographic areas are good for certain resources
- The legal framework for obtaining said materials
- Proportions for making alloys
- And quite a few more…
And while experience and expertise does provide a great deal of information, my brain is only so big. I forget things, or haven’t learned stuff that I need to know. And yes, I am old school in the sense that I have books upon books with tables upon tables of information. But sometimes it is so much easier to hop onto the AI system to ask “hey AI, what’s the average forging temperature range for 1040 steel and can it be forged with 99.5% pure copper?”
Because 99% of the time, that’s what I’m using artificial intelligence for. To look up necessary information because I’m too lazy to go into the other room and dig out the information from the dusty books.
That, or gathering together reference materials. You know, like artists have done for thousands of years.
I just use AI to find it quicker.
So if you read this blog and determine that my use of artificial intelligence means that I am a villain, then I will twirl my moustache and give the appropriate amount of evil laughter. But if you determine that the use of AI in the art world, or even the world in general is not so simple, I invite you to read my other posts and look at my work. I’m pretty sure they should speak for themselves.