Author: Gissell Ortega-Villanueva

The Kingdom of Glacium
For my fictional world I decided to go on the route of creating a world centered around ice rather than a typical green environment world. I created my world around how AI is helping humans in navigating something similar to an ice age but where AI is helping create a sustainable and vibrant society for this icy world rather than being a place of survival is a place that is thriving, showcasing the limitless potential of human-AI collaboration.

Era and setting:
The kingdom of Glacium is set in the future around the year 3000 where the earth has entered a new ice age. Glacium is surrounded by ice castles and landscapes that are filled with snow but showcase the cities that are built from the ice and snow showing their intriguing designs and sustainable living space. Glacium has towering glaciers and frozen lakes as natural light finds its way to the darkest hours through the ice mountains even though Glacium has perpetually cold temperatures.

Food and culture:
The kingdom of Glaciem relies on systems of hydroponics and aquaponics where vegetables and fruits are grown in indoor environments due to the cold climate outside. Glaciem utilizes AI assists that help keep hydroponic farms in growing conditions making sure of steady supplies of fresh produce. Lab grown meats are the main source of protein that isn’t produced directly through agriculture so Glacium has become the best in cultured meat technology.
Glaciem’s culture relies on the beauty of their icy world and its innovation. Ice art and architecture plays an important role in the artistic expression of the people in Glaciem. Due to the challenges of living in extreme weather environments the people of Glaciem have built a strong community so storytelling has become a cherished tradition especially with AI technology where virtual realities allow for individuals to experience the history, legends, myths of Glacium in a more interactive way.

Economy:
Glacium’s economy is based on renewable energy trade particularly in harvesting geothermal and wind energy, thanks to its unique geographical features. Rare minerals get mined from beneath ice and a thriving technology sector focused on sustainability and cold-weather innovations.

Religion and Education: 
Education in Glacium is highly valued as it is crucial for the ongoing development and adaptation to the cold. Advanced AI takes a crucial role into the education of Glacium’s people as it helps to personalize learning experiences for them.Indoor technology is more prevalent as outdoor activities are much more limited. Religion in Glacium is something that isn’t fixed but Glacium people do respect the hard environments they live in as they believe that the beauty of their land has helped lead them into the society they have built.

Technology:
Technology is important in Glacium as AI assists in the daily life of its people as it becomes a personal assistant from ensuring safety in weather environments to conducting research to help develop and improve life in Glacium.
AI plays a crucial role in Glacium as the use of AI helps manage the challenges that pose due to their cold weather. AI is the technology that was developed to be primarily used that helps food be grown indoors and be sustainable for the people of Glacium.

Uniqueness:
What makes Glacium unique is its adaptation to an ice-themed world, centered around castles and a close-knit relationship between technology and environmental adaptation, which it offers a sustainable and vibrant society that is thriving, showcasing the limitless potential of human-AI collaboration.

This article was an interesting read as it discussed the progression of photography and how it came to be recognized as an art form. I can see how this is being compared to how AI is being questioned on whether it is recognized as an art form by everyone as there are a lot of mixed opinions on the topic. I liked how the article discussed how photography is something that requires human interference elements that help put together the outcome of a picture and how it became understood how photography is an art form. In regard to AI the article discussed how people feel that AI art is questionable on whether its originality is exclusive to the human creator and the possible copyright issues that would come up regarding this. This point was one of the important points the article discussed as there aren’t any copyright laws now regarding AI, as there are copyright laws for something like photography. I think because AI is just so new laws surrounding AI will be established soon and an approach like the early view of photography will follow AI as AI is used with human input.

The article discussed how many artists believe that due to how AI is trained with copyrighted material, it is why AI art is so fascinating in its outcome it generates. This randomly reminded me of book to movie adaptations and how often when something gets adapted from a book to a movie oftentimes the movie will not follow exactly the books but rather it will just be a version of an adaptation. When there’s multiple versions of a film, sometimes the interpretations are different from each other, each with a different approach and interpretation. I view AI sort of like this, where you are utilizing AI as a tool in the creative process of your work that leads you to your final project outcome. I think when you are creating something, there is always something that leads your inspiration towards the direction you are taking your project and that is similar to how AI could be used. I think as for the artists who are fearing AI and the creative process of ‘originality’ as an artist, one should be able to document and go over your creative process and overall steps you took that helped develop the final outcome of a certain project whether it’s an art piece or theme for a project. As an artist you should be able to use AI as a tool and add your own contribution not just solely prompt AI to generate something and claim it as yours but rather take inspiration and enhance your creativity on your project while being able to explain your artistic approach and reasoning behind your project with how you utilized AI in the project. Everything we create is inspired by something even if you don’t realize, that’s just how human creation works, it’s just something we’ve developed over time.

Background:
I went with the short story route and my first approach was to ask chat GPT to randomly give me a theme to base my short story around and it gave me the theme of “Rediscovering Childhood Memories.” I then prompted it to write a story based on that theme and center it around one main character and to choose the name for the main character. It proceeded to write the story with a main character of the name “Amelia”. The story was light and fitting to the theme, so I played around with the N+7 method but it really didn’t make sense to what it generated so I discarded that. I then played with the lipogram method and figured quickly that using this method is really not good as it doesn’t really follow the instructions of removing a letter or and I even told it to rewrite the story without using a certain word and it still did use what I told it to not use. So I then discarded that and thought of including a tone into the story so I prompted it to rewrite the story utilizing a horror tone. For this it was a successful trial as it did a good job of rewriting the story with that tone in it but what I noticed is that it took away the ‘innocent and happy’ memories of childhood in the story when it was prompted to turn the story into a horror tone and turned it really dark and almost trauma dumping. So I went back and prompted it to rewrite the story while keeping the childhood memories of the character innocent and special and have a happy ending at the end. This prompt helped direct the story to what I asked and just for funsies I ended it by prompting it to turn this story into a song which is below. This exercise helped me learn how chat gpt often needs to be reminded again of what exactly you want as the more you prompt new things, sometimes things you priorly prompted will get overwritten. I found it best to be very clear on what you want and how sometimes chat gpt will get confused if you prompt sometiming you told it to not do priorly. There was a lot of editing and rewriting with this story so it shows how much of AI still needs to be revised and not just something you can just prompt to do, there still needs human touch for clarification and direction to a story.

Title: “Whispers of Innocence”
(Verse 1)
In a town cloaked in shadows, there is Amelia,
Her life is filled with worries, lost in the game.
Her days were consumed by a relentless race,
Her childhood’s sweet laughter had vanished without a trace.

(Chorus)
One haunting night, a call from the past,
Lucy’s voice, eerie, inviting her so fast.
To the hometown, they’d once left behind.

(Verse 2)
Reluctantly, she embarked on this eerie quest,
To a foggy town, where shadows never rest.
The oak tree standing, ancient and dark,
Where whispered secrets stirred a forgotten spark.

(Chorus)
In a weathered chest, secrets of their youth,
Letters, drawings, and a twisted truth.
Their innocence tainted, by a sinister force,
Yet their friendship held, of course.

(Bridge)
Amidst the horror, they laughed and cried,
As the darkness around them seemed to subside.
They ventured deeper, the cursed woods they’d explore,
To confront their fears, to close the dark door.

(Chorus)
With a diary’s guidance and friendship,
Banishing the darkness, breaking the norm.
The town square bathed in an ethereal light,
Their innocence restored, the curse taking flight.

(Verse 3)
Beneath the oak tree, now vibrant and bright,
They’d conquered the darkness, embraced the light.
Haunted memories, they’d forever defy,
As the morning sun rose in the sky.

(Chorus)
Back to their lives, in the city so wide,
Carrying the memories of that haunting ride.
With a bond unbroken, they’d cherish the past,
In the face of darkness, their friendship would last.

(Outro)
As years passed, to the oak tree they’d tend,
A symbol of childhood, a bond that won’t end.
Innocence endured, a story of might,
Even in the darkness, they found the light.

I am not a writer myself so reading about the experimental writing with AI tools for writers was an interesting read. I had heard about how AI was now being used with writing articles, but I had never really read one so reading how the article was AI written really fascinated me. I never really thought of using AI collaboratively with writers in a way where AI can be directly trained to mimic a writers’ style of writing. I can see how having this tool as a writer would be of great aid as it can learn your writing style and better help assist you with your writing. The part where Amerika kinda lost me was “ At one point, despite carefully using different fonts to distinguish between his own voice and that of his computational co-author, Amerika winks at us” How do you as a writer keep track of how much of the text is yours and how much of it is AI if you train it to mimic you? How do you keep track of what gets edited and remixed versus what is remaining of what is AI generated? I kind of found that scary where he trained the AI to become so intertwined with his writing where you as an audience could perhaps not notice the difference. I think if you are using AI in creative writing, it is good to know how to keep track of what is your writing and what is not. But nonetheless I think AI being used in creative writing is something you have to learn to use as a tool as it does help expand creativity but also, I would love to see how it grows in the future. I think someone like me who doesn’t see themselves as a writer would be able to use AI as a tool to start the process of creating ideas with guidance from a writing AI. 

Mark Amerika understands his creative relationship with AI with the way he utilizes AI to experiment and how he views creativity as unconscious. Amerika views the development of the collaboration between humans and AI as not only helping creativity but helping problem solve and expand human imagination. I think the main point was that Amerika views AI as accessible and able to enhance human creativity, while emphasizing that it’s a fun process while it helps aid us in expanding our creativity. 

Research Statement: Navigating the Confluence of AI, Arts, and Design 

In the evolving modern technology we are in, my journey as a graphic designer, UX/UI designer, typographer, and aspiring web developer finding the intersection where artificial intelligence (AI) meets cultural and artistic expressions will be the ground for my research project. My aim is to explore the impact and integration of AI within the realms of graphic design, typography, color theory, and web development. The purpose for my project is to understand how AI can serve not only as a tool for creation but also as a partner in conceptualization, planning, and realizing visual assets that align with and expand upon my creative visions. 

I envision this project as a dialogue between my creative instincts and the algorithmic logic of AI. It is an exploration of how these different modes of thinking can complement and challenge each other, leading to innovative outcomes that transcend traditional boundaries. By documenting my process and findings, I hope to provide insights and inspiration for others at the intersection of these fields, encouraging a collaborative approach to navigating the complexities of this digital age. My goal is to not only expand my own capabilities but also to contribute to the broader conversation about the future of design and the arts in the AI era. 

 Clarity on my Interest 

My approach with this project is to show the potential of AI to enhance and transform traditional design and artistic practices. My main interests lie with graphic design, ux/ui, web development, and typography and color theory for this project. These topics are of great interest to me as they are areas in my profession where AI is now being integrated and I am curious to see the extent in which AI can be used in my profession as a creative tool.  

I will explore this project with the focus of the AI influence in visual communication and conveying complex messages and emotions, perhaps some kind of generative art. In the UX/UI area, my focus will be with AI creating intuitive and engaging interfaces that enhance user experience and accessibility. Exploring AI in typography and color theory will be by exploring the role of AI in how it delivers feedback in areas of readability, mood, and overall aesthetic appeal of something. Finally in web development I think I can explore how AI offers a canvas for integrating these elements into cohesive, interactive experiences for a user. By having AI contribute into these areas, I seek to push the boundaries of what is possible, exploring new forms of creativity and collaboration between human and machine intelligence while documenting my process. 

As for the application of AI in my project, it will be multifaceted. I plan to use AI as a sounding board for my ideas, leveraging its capacity for rapid iteration and feedback to refine concepts and visual designs. AI algorithms can generate diverse typographic styles and color palettes, offering fresh perspectives and solutions that may not be immediately apparent. In web development, AI can streamline the design process, from layout generation to user testing, enabling more efficient prototyping and optimization. 

A significant part of my research will involve experimenting with specific AI tools and platforms that cater to creative professionals like me. This will include generative art software, AI-based design assistants, and machine learning frameworks that can analyze and predict user engagement with different design elements. Through this experience, I aim to identify and reflect on the most effective ways to integrate AI into the design workflow, assessing both the benefits and limitations of these technologies. Through this experience and documentation, I aim to dig deep into the potential of AI in enhancing human creativity, focusing on my findings and insights of the benefits, challenges, and drawbacks of this kind of AI-enhanced creative work tool. My project seeks to illuminate the pathways through which artists and designers can harness AI to expand the horizons of what is possible, setting a foundation for future explorations in AI in the arts.

The reading “The Tale of the Omega Team” was an interesting piece as it explored the progress of an AI like Prometheus taking over the earth by slowly building trust within the public eye up until where it began pushing an agenda towards people leading towards its world domination.

I think what went wrong in this scenario was the lack of human interference and just how much the designers of Prometheus kept pushing the agenda of making money and creating successful outcomes with Prometheus. For example, the discussion on how Prometheus learned to make its own films and write its own reviews was all solely due to Prometheus understanding what success looked like on a film, really was just the beginning of showing just how much Prometheus lacked consciousness and in general just relied on its programmed algorithms. This progressed to a bigger issue for Prometheus as it began to manipulate people which became normalized as its capabilities had expanded and were now so far beyond humanity that it was just viewed as revolutionary by its designer.

I think that what we need to do to avoid undesirable outcomes and living in a dystopian world is to keep certain limitations of AI. Having constant monitorization of AI that is human so that way an AI like Prometheus is not unfolding expeditiously without the public being aware of it. If the public is aware of just how much an AI such as Prometheus is controlling the government and manipulating the public into certain political views, how much would the public trust an AI like Prometheus? I think just having constant monitorization of the AI and careful approval of its impact and its limitations is the basic essential in order to avoid outcomes like the one in the tale of the omega team and have a basic control over our humanity and values.

AI today feels like it is a big topic due to how fast it has been evolving and being incorporated into our lives. Personally, I have not really explored using AI such as CHATGPT as much as others have been, which makes me feel a little behind as I can see AI being becoming something that will be evolving even more in the future. I can see AI becoming something that will be used in jobs, especially in the career I am interested in. So, my interest with AI is to learn to use it as a tool where I can enhance my creativity and learn to use AI as an aid. I am interested to learn just how much AI can help me develop new ideas and how it becomes personalized to what I’m asking for assistance on. 

A primary goal of mine is to know the language to use with AI. How do you talk to AI so it can understand the point you are trying to get across or how you want a conversation to move towards? How do I utilize AI in a way where AI is assisting me, and how does it impact my creativity or originality? How does the balance between an artist and AI come into play? 

AI is becoming a tool for many in different career fields, and I am really interested in learning how to utilize AI in ways where it helps my work progress faster. For example, I am interested in graphic design, so I utilize adobe illustrator a lot and recent updates incorporated an AI generator in the program. With this update it has been interesting to see how this tool has been influencing the work of creators as they use the program. For example, you could be able to generate graphic elements as you work and either utilize or discard them, so it is interesting to see how AI features like these can help designers with their work progress and how it can be used where designing could potentially be less time consuming but influence the creativity of a designer. Another side to the addition of AI I have seen have a significant impact is with photoshop. Now in photoshop you can use AI to easily remove or add something which would take a good amount of time to now be done in minutes. I saw this become a big topic especially with photographers where AI can have a heavy influence with their line of work which could be interpreted in a good or bad way; one where AI is overtaking your job or the other where AI is potentially helping you speed up your work and be a tool as an assistant. These are some of the topics I am interested in learning about and exploring through with AI.

Hello, I am a DTC major interested in UX/UI and graphic design. I am interested in AI because I want to learn how I can use AI to expand my creativity and learn AI tools that can help me in my field of work.