A Recent Seth Godin Blog Says AI Art is Dandy. I Disagree. Hard.
If there is no value placed in the creator, then there is no value to what is created.
I just read a recent Seth Godin blog about the coming AI tsunami. He seems quite upbeat about it and made this quote to explain why.
“Understandably, some creators are up in arms. They say that if an AI is trained on their photographs, their architectural designs or their cartoons, it’s a form of theft.
This doesn’t hold up.
If an art student studies all of Picasso’s 10,000 paintings and then creates a new painting that is clearly based on them, we call this the advancement of culture. The same is true if a writer uses a word that was coined by Shakespeare, or if a graffitist is clearly inspired by Shepard Fairey.
That’s how culture evolves. Taking an idea isn’t theft. Taking an idea is an oxymoron. Ideas belong to all of us.”
Well, do they?
Are we to do away with all patents, trademarks, copyrights, intellectual property law, plagiarism, proprietary trade secrets, and privacy laws?
Cause that is what “ideas belong to all of us” means.
Yeah… no.
The student he mentioned is a sentient entity that uses deliberate and decisive actions along each part of the path in order to use what they have learned to make what they see in their heads. They see a brush stroke or a chord progression and they try to figure out why that occurred.
Because in art, motives matter. Motives are what drive artists to make a huge canvas or a tiny photograph, an atonal piece of music, or one steeped in traditional harmony.
Motives are human elements and are not possible within a machine.
And the student, being sentient, can deliberately CHOOSE which artists they wish to be inspired by. And what part of the influencer they choose.
Perhaps I love the composition of Alec Soth, but because of a thousand million pings of brain dust, I also want the colors of Stephen Shore mixed with a bit of the subject matter of Paul Strand.
Because I want it. I can see it in my head, and I need the tools to create it in my hands and the skills within my very being. I must learn to communicate with my chosen forms of expression, and that is an important part of why we enjoy and revel in the best art.
Artists do not make their choices based on random probabilities pulled from the lowest common denominator. The average. The mundane mixed with the grand.
And AI does nothing but use predictability based on what is usually done before and after the tiny part of the thing it is creating to make random choices that lead to more predictability.
Stuff that is outside the norm is not known to it and would be difficult to be assimilated into a predictability process.
Coltrane had to win many artistic fights to be known.
AI would not have been interested, it wouldn’t fit the base predictability model.
Cormac McCarthy would have had his work ripped to shreds by Grammarly.
The music of Kate Bush wasn’t nearly as popular as pop-shit in the same era, so it would not make “the cut”.
Architects will not be called on for innovation, only to design the same thing because it is what ‘the people’ want. And AI will build it according to the parameters accepted into the machine as viable.
“Imitate. Assimilate. Innovate.”
— Clark Terry, Trumpet Maestro
A quote that I live by, and have my students understand.
This is how art is passed down from artist to artist and is exactly how Seth defined it.
Imitation and assimilation are what AI does… and does well.
But the innovation part, the part where someone struggles to find meaning in the disparate information they have gained and wrestles it to submission with practice, refinement, destruction, and redemption… that part is still important.
An artist wipes the canvas clean because of their personal struggle with what they want to create. They can see it in their mind’s eye, and yet they realize they need to hone their skills more to achieve that look.
The writer struggles with a passage in order to make it literally jump off the page and into the minds of the reader. Write, re-write, drink heavily, and write some more.
The photographer keeps shooting as the subject is everchanging all the while knowing that the moment they see in their minds will arrive and they must catch it just right in order for the image to go from mediocre to majestic.
Are these not the attributes of what makes it so extraordinary to view, read, or listen to? That we all understand the challenges of art and extoll those who have mastered them. That the art is created by another human who has mastered a craft that mere mortals find impossible to imagine?
Or is it simply the artifact that is created that is to be considered?
Well, then…
Why is the value of a VanGogh more than that of a third-grade art student?
Why do the orchestral works of Eliott Carter hold higher esteem than “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”?
Why do we extoll the work of Cartier Bresson more than snapshots of a junior lawyer’s lunch on Instagram?
If there is no part of the art that is a human, then all human interaction is thereby canceled and we are left with just the artifact.
What Seth is proposing is that there be no value at all in the creation of the artifact (the art), the only value is in the artifact itself.
The AI ‘painting’ is just as valuable as… as what?
A Picasso?
A Mondrian?
Kandinsky?
They are all just ‘output’ now and all valuations MUST be rethought.
Work that took talent, drive, passion, vision, and constant skill acquisition must now meet in the middle with work that required none.
And something that requires no talent and no skill is — by definition — worthless.
And all ‘art’ becomes meaningless, worthless, and invaluable — except to advertisers who will take the content — guaranteed to sell more Parfume’ to women in Boston between 30 and 45 who make over $200K per year, and live within a specific zip code (all of the data AI certified) and create the output that will do just that.
And innovation is rolled back to being worthless… Just let the AI do it since it knows more than us, and the bland, but highly marketable result means more money.
For a while.
Until it doesn’t.
Eventually, it will all be an auto-tuned world of blandness and limited interest.
But then, we all have to consider how it will relate to what we do.
Chat GPT, write an article about perseverance as a writer in the voice of Seth Godin.
___________
“As a writer, perseverance is perhaps the most important quality you can cultivate. It’s not enough to simply have a great idea or the talent to put words on the page — you also need the grit and determination to see your projects through to completion, even when the going gets tough.
One of the biggest challenges for any writer is simply getting started. It’s easy to get bogged down by self-doubt or to become overwhelmed by the sheer scope of a project. But it’s important to remember that the only way to get better at writing is to write. So, if you’re struggling to get started, try setting a daily writing goal for yourself. It could be as simple as writing 500 words per day, or spending a set amount of time at your desk working on your writing. The important thing is to establish a consistent habit of putting words on the page.
Another challenge that writers often face is the fear of rejection. It’s natural to want your work to be well-received, and it can be disheartening when it isn’t. But it’s important to remember that rejection is a normal part of the writing process. No one gets it right every time, and it’s through the process of getting feedback and revising our work that we become better writers. So, if you’re facing rejection, try to view it as an opportunity to learn and improve, rather than as a personal failure.
Finally, it’s important to remember that writing is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of a new project, but it’s important to have the stamina to see it through to the end. This means setting realistic goals for yourself, and being willing to put in the hard work and dedication required to achieve them. It also means being kind to yourself when things don’t go as planned, and taking time to rest and recharge when you need it.
In conclusion, perseverance is a crucial quality for any writer to cultivate. It’s not always easy, but by setting consistent habits, learning from rejection, and being kind to yourself, you can build the grit and determination needed to see your projects through to completion.”
Interesting it didn’t mention “Get a Chat GPT and enter a prompt and just chill, man”.
May I quote you?
I am a photographer, designer, and photo editor. You can find me at my self-named website or at Project 52 Pro System (enrollment begins January 6, 2023) where I teach commercial photography online. This is our tenth year of teaching, and it is the most unique online class you will find anywhere.
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