Instant special effects! Fun for a moment. Why not draw one from your imagination with paper and pencil? I think the experience of truly making, whether it's drawing, writing, or playing, is irreplaceable. That feeling I get when I'm drawing and I lose track of time is something AI can't do.
I agree completely about the value of active creation and imagination. One of the risks of AI is that it will make such creative activity seem boring or burdensome. The technology is also already putting artists and writers out of work. But AI is here to stay, as long as our civilization doesn't collapse, and I believe it's going to have a huge impact; so it's not just interesting but important to explore its possibilities, including its potential benefits. It offers people who simply don't have the time or ability for elaborate artistic work the chance to participate in aesthetic creation. It can also generate unsuspected, intricate environments that can stimulate our imagination, not just stultify it.
AI-generated text is another challenge that especially affects those of us in academia. Why shouldn't a student just ask a chatbot to write yet another undergraduate essay about Descartes? I'm going to be discussing this in some depth (I hope) with my students next term.
I appreciate Richard's comments about academia, faced by us English and history teachers everywhere. As a former journalist, I am able to spot students' writing as their own, or not, but it distracts from the reading, and takes extra work. On a separate note, I picked up a Smith-Corona Secretarial 88 wide-carriage, matt brown paint, in good shape, at a thrift store for $25 this week! It is a sweet machine. The teenage cashier pressed a key and said "It moved!" to her total surprise.
Thank you very much for your reply. I am enjoying your Typewriter Revolution book here in New Mexico, and watch California Typewriter every few months. The 1955 typewriter -- seen under better light, is gray and should gloss up once cleaned.
Another thought -- the funny thing is the thrift store where I found the typewriter was a Sears store in downtown Farmington in the 1950s, complete with a basement retail floor that included a bomb shelter. The store would have sold manual typewriters brand new at the time.
What did you use? I've been having fun with Dall-E-2, giving it prompts from text I've written, and the results are surprising and fun. https://openai.com/dall-e-2/ But the typewriters can get outlandish!
Yes, it's here to stay. And yes, I still sketch almost daily with good old hands-on tools.
Instant special effects! Fun for a moment. Why not draw one from your imagination with paper and pencil? I think the experience of truly making, whether it's drawing, writing, or playing, is irreplaceable. That feeling I get when I'm drawing and I lose track of time is something AI can't do.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely about the value of active creation and imagination. One of the risks of AI is that it will make such creative activity seem boring or burdensome. The technology is also already putting artists and writers out of work. But AI is here to stay, as long as our civilization doesn't collapse, and I believe it's going to have a huge impact; so it's not just interesting but important to explore its possibilities, including its potential benefits. It offers people who simply don't have the time or ability for elaborate artistic work the chance to participate in aesthetic creation. It can also generate unsuspected, intricate environments that can stimulate our imagination, not just stultify it.
DeleteAI-generated text is another challenge that especially affects those of us in academia. Why shouldn't a student just ask a chatbot to write yet another undergraduate essay about Descartes? I'm going to be discussing this in some depth (I hope) with my students next term.
Apparently all robots think typewriters should have shrunken, outgassed keytops. :D
ReplyDeleteHa ha, yes, they can't get the keys right!
DeleteI appreciate Richard's comments about academia, faced by us English and history teachers everywhere. As a former journalist, I am able to spot students' writing as their own, or not, but it distracts from the reading, and takes extra work. On a separate note, I picked up a Smith-Corona Secretarial 88 wide-carriage, matt brown paint, in good shape, at a thrift store for $25 this week! It is a sweet machine. The teenage cashier pressed a key and said "It moved!" to her total surprise.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your find!
DeleteI guess people don't expect anything to move if it has no external power source ...
Thank you very much for your reply. I am enjoying your Typewriter Revolution book here in New Mexico, and watch California Typewriter every few months. The 1955 typewriter -- seen under better light, is gray and should gloss up once cleaned.
DeleteAnother thought -- the funny thing is the thrift store where I found the typewriter was a Sears store in downtown Farmington in the 1950s, complete with a basement retail floor that included a bomb shelter. The store would have sold manual typewriters brand new at the time.
DeleteWhat did you use? I've been having fun with Dall-E-2, giving it prompts from text I've written, and the results are surprising and fun. https://openai.com/dall-e-2/ But the typewriters can get outlandish!
ReplyDeleteYes, it's here to stay. And yes, I still sketch almost daily with good old hands-on tools.
I used the Stable Diffusion algorithm on NightCafe. The most amazing results I've seen come from Midjourney, but I have not tried it yet.
Delete