In today’s world of technology, we face exponential growth in all areas we may utilize it. From doctors’ offices to art galleries, farming equipment to space travel, technology is everywhere.
As we navigate what the integration of technology means for society and humanity as a whole, many questions arise. Learning about cutting edge Artificial Intelligence has led to ethical queries about originality, what constitutes art, and how to represent AI assisted artistic endeavors. As a multimedia artist and designer, being trained to use AI as a tool, my biggest question lies in the integration of human creativity and AI.
The challenge I find most fascinating is this:
How can AI serve as a tool to broaden the scope of human expression in multimedia art forms rather than replace the human element?
I will demonstrate how AI can be used to explore, aid, and assist me in the creation of an original poem to be used as song lyrics which will then be fed into Suno AI music generator to create an original AI-assisted song. Using the poem/lyrics, I used DALL-E to create images to be stitched together and displayed in a video slide show that connects the music to the imagery.
I will show how I trained my own GPT to assist me in the creation of the poem, generation of the music, and the generation of images that will convey deep human emotions and the magic of everyday moments.
I am constantly inspired by the natural world. As a hobbyist level student of philosophies like Stoicism, Taoism, and Zen Buddhism, I find peace in nature and a freedom to explore my own inner energy.
The first poem I asked AI to create was on a non-trained ChatGPT 3.5 thread.
I used the following prompt:
This was the resulting poem:
It wasn’t quite what I was looking for. It used language I would never choose, a pacing that wasn’t quite right, and it sounded like it was written by an AI.
Then I took great care in crafting my own personal GPT, “Verse Crafter.” This was a rather quick process to undertake since I had preselected the private collection of poems I would be using to train it.
I chose a private selection of my own poetry and creative writing to train the GPT. I asked it to use the references I provided as a model of structure, pacing, and language. I also asked it not to consider the content or theme of the poetry I uploaded.
My newly minted “Verse Crafter” GPT was specifically tasked with creating a purpose-built poem to be used as song lyrics and inspiration for image creation to be used in a video together for my final project.
The most important part that I discovered was to specify that the GPT was to ask questions of me, in order to create a conversation with the AI that would yield continuously better responses. Thereby, training it to sound more like my own writing.
After creating the GPT, training it with my own poems, and outlining its duties as a creative assistant, I fed in the exact prompt I had in the untrained GPT.
First Poem by Trained GPT:
Next, I began to suggest alterations that would tailor the poem and direct it closer to my own ideas. The second response from “Verse Crafter” yielded results more closely matching my own style and delivery. The structure resonated with me as did the pacing.
Halfway Through Process Poem by Trained GPT:
I then began to help the AI better understand what I was looking for in terms of tone, imagery, and language. Many times, I would give a short instruction such as, "No - Slightly more whimsical" or "decrease the intensity of the stars by half." After many iterations, I chose a poem that most sounded like I had written it and also would evoke strong, relatable emotions in the reader.
Final Poem Selected:
Using Suno AI music generator, I used prompts that described the type of song I wanted it to create. In the lyrics option, I chose to use the poem my AI assistant and I had crafted.
Suno Screen with Finalized Lyrics:
Many iterations of a handful of lyric were tried. The prompts I included appear next to each song. I made sure to give a thumbs up or down to help the AI understand what I wanted. This process was a joy. I could have made songs for several days, but had to limit myself a bit or I would never have moved onto the next phase.
Once I had a song that reflected the poem and resonated with me, evoking emotions we can all relate to, I moved back over to ChatGPT to use DALL-E image generation.
I fed in lines from the poem, two at a time. This image was created for this line:
As the twilight breathes, the shadows play
The stars light up in a silver array,
And here is one more example:
Melodies cradle me where shadows fall,
In the starlit night, I heed the call
After several iterations and some guidance by me about the mood, theme and tone I was after, the AI produced beautiful, evocative images I could connect with on a deeply personal level. These images can be seen in the final project presention.
Using the AI generated song, in MP3 form, I imported it and my images into Adobe After Effects for compositing. I arranged the images, created transitions, and used some animated effects to enhance the cohesion of the video's final result.
Here is a screenshot of the files within the editing software:
Through much trial and error, many iterations, three types of AI assistance, and some editing software, I was able to allow AI to be my partner in the entire process. The result is a beautiful blend of human creativity and Artificial Intelligence.
This process began with AI assitsted poetry generation, migrated to a music generator to create a song, back to my customized GPT, using DALL-E to create images, and landed in my video editing software to create an original work of multimedia art. This project demonstrates several uses for AI as a tool within the creative process.
I realized a very simple truth: AI can only assist at this point. It is unable to create anything truly unique without human input. The art that speaks to the human experience requires the human element.
I plan to incorporate AI in many elements of my future creative endeavors. I gained an appreciation for the depths of emotion that can be instilled in my multimedia art projects. I am also comforted by the fact that my input and guidance was what truly made this project resonate with myself and those who will experience it. Used wisely, AI has the capability to expand artists' reach and enhance the user experience of technology.
Click HERE to go to the project.