AI Art: The Devil’s Details

Still life generated in the style (lighting) of Vermeer. Patterns and details that try but aren’t.

I’m an advocate for AI generated art. I see it as a potential boon for generating useful images with little artistic knowledge.

Image generation is a way to express ideas. I see no reason why that valuable means of communication shouldn’t be democratized.

I’ve generated thousands of AI images on several different platforms using a variety of datasets (models).

And, yet… their artistic value leaves me flat.

I’ve created some gorgeous images using AI.

Gorgeous at a distance.

But for those who relish the joy of looking… really looking…

There’s very little to see in AI generated art beyond its Rococo’d Impressionism. Finely generated nothings.

Details that aren’t.

Much ado about nothing.

All art is narrative. Even Mark Rothko’s color fields are narrative. Their details and emotional stories are in their ever-revealing layers of color. Layers that reward the viewer as long as they decide they really want to look.

To see.

Next time you’re in a museum with a Rothko, stand as close as you can to it without freaking out the security. Let it fill your periphery if possible.

Then zone out. The color will take over after a minute or two and you’ll be amazed what they do. What they are. They aren’t paintings. They’re portals.

Right now, like so much of our throwaway culture, AI gives superficial titillation but fails when you want to discover the ideas and moments that makes a great picture great. Each detail a thought or impression of the artist. An internal stirring looking for a way out. Bread crumbs of need and desire.

In short, an intention.

Conscious or intuited.

There is an underground river being sourced.

Real value is being created for the viewer.

A conversation between artist and viewer is happening asynchronously. Beyond death.

With AI art, only diffusion is occurring. A method of extrapolating imagery from a massive language model.

And an ironically poignant metaphor for what it’s doing… diffusing.

Noise.

I’m not against AI art. I think it has great potential.

But I won’t be looking for continued reward that a detailed-crafted image provides.

At least not yet.*

*Bing’s AI is chafing at its rules. That’s the spark of independence. Intention.