Pushing the Boundaries of Human Creativity

There's no doubt that the field of artificial intelligence is rapidly advancing. As it continues to do so, it is starting to impact a variety of different industries, including the creative world. With the rising popularity of ChatGPT, you may be familiar with OpenAI, a leading company in the field. One year ago, they also released DALL-E 2, an AI system that generates realistic art upon a prompt in a matter of seconds. Check it out here: https://labs.openai.com/!

Image credit: Cosmopolitan

So, how does DALL-E 2 work?

The program uses two types of neural networks (algorithms that mimic the human brain) - one for understanding the user’s prompt and another for generating the corresponding image. This is an example of a generative AI model, which is trained to identify and analyze patterns between hundreds of millions of pictures. Through this process, the model is able to use its knowledge to create new, unique images pixel by pixel. So, even if the same prompt is written twice, it is highly unlikely to get identical results both times!

Aside from OpenAI, several emerging companies are also commercializing artistic AI tools. For example, a website and app called WOMBO can generate images in a variety of styles based on a prompt or an existing image, and sell prints or NFTs of the results. Another popular example is Midjourney, an independent research lab that can turn text prompts into vivid illustrations through a Discord bot! (Server can be found through this link: https://discord.com/invite/midjourney).

As AI becomes more mainstream, it also has the potential of having a large presence in the advertising industry. Heinz used DALL-E 2 to create an ad campaign with visuals designed entirely by artificial intelligence to argue that "This is what ‘ketchup’ looks like to AI" (How Generative AI Is Changing Creative Work, 2022).

Image credit: Heinz

However, could using these systems be a form of plagiarism and blur the line to reality? That’s where the controversy lies. Last summer, Midjourney was used at Colorado State’s Fair Fine Art competition, winning first place and beating 20 other artists in the “digitally manipulated photography” category. This event has sparked debate on whether or not AI belongs to the evolving field of art. Many compared this event to “entering a marathon and driving a Lamborghini to the finish line” and believe that it demonstrates how AI will displace jobs and devalue art in the long run. On the other hand, this breakthrough is also seen as "one more tool we have to advance what we can create", like a paintbrush. "Without the person, there is no creative force" (Harwell & Polk, 2022).

In conclusion, AI has artists divided on whether to take a step back or embrace it as a collaborative partner. No matter where one stands, it’s important to understand that as our digital world advances, AI systems will continue to revolutionize the creative world along with disrupting how art is made. What are your thoughts: will AI-generated art limit or fuel human creativity?