Author: Pamela

Era & Setting

Ethereal is an old world that has existed for several years at the moment in the year 3200. This planet has three moons and a sun which appear amongst the clouds and star filled sky. The landscape is covered in mountains with forests and trees as far as the eye can see and has rivers and waterfalls scattered around. The trees have all sorts of colors as well as the plants and even the water.

Environment 

Ethereal is cool at night and warm during the day the sun shines during the day and the moonlight illuminates at night. In this world half the day is night time and the other is daytime.  The climate on this planet is similar to earths with rain and wind but it doesn’t snow or hail. The civilizations on this planet are similar to floating like islands that interconnect but people do explore beyond the islands.

Food & Culture

The culture of Ethereal emphasizes the celebration of enjoying life, people here live very content lives. This society highly values their resources and for special events, grand festivals are held in celebration of the sky and its gifts. Dancing and the making of art are highly valued by all. The food here is similar to earth food but made with exotic ingredients of all colors.

Economy

The economy on Ethereal is nonmonetary, they have adapted a service based system. One in which people or their AI assistants will do you some type of favor in exchange for goods, this system reflects trust. Some resources are provided by the planet, others use AI to produce.

Religion 

There isn’t a fixed religion that people are devoted to, however to the people the sky is very important to them. They believe that their planet was born from when the stars and the moon met. They believe that it is thanks to the moon and the stars that they have prosperity, resources, and life. As for their education people are taught all sorts of life skills and have a general education about how their world works and AI assistance. 

Technology

Although Ethereal has a substantial amount of nature in it they also are highly advanced when it comes to technology. While their architecture is classically designed they have AI technology that helps them solve any problems within their islands such as infrastructure. Each individual on the island has a companion (a personalized AI) that helps them with daily tasks and looks out for them. Apart from this AI is also used for security purposes and used in science to help improve society and grow agriculture.

Uniqueness 

What sets this world apart is the advancement of this society despite keeping a traditional look to the structure of everything. AI in this world is not just a tool but seen even as a companion or caretaker that assists people further. This planet is celestial like with its rich culture and uncommon forms of governing truly a utopia.

My initial idea was to create surreal images based on my dreams, however after experimenting for a while they seemed a bit too ordinary. So I began to think of random situations with everyday objects and added odd scenery. I also messed around with animals and mythological creatures to make it even more illogical. I tried to make my series of images have different tones to create a variety and they ended up being very random.

Here is the link to my presentation:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ImCfVWycoozcTMvaRQ0sG0-rFkBeQWUFvCwseWx0K1w/edit?usp=sharing

Introduction

When I first started this project, I was not sure where to begin. I had many ideas but could not decide on one. I knew I wanted to do something related to art because it has always been important to me and something I consistently practice. However, figuring out how exactly I was going to use AI was difficult to figure out. I am interested in art so naturally I went in the direction of visual arts. 

AI Interest & class

My interest in AI is mostly from curiosity about what it is and what it means in terms of art. AI has obviously greatly impacted many fields but particularly ones that have creativity. I’d like to be able to use AI to see directly how it impacts art and how it can enhance  art. I would like to learn how I can use AI to better improve my art and how to integrate to simplify tasks.

As for AI itself and the class I think that AI is revolutionary and the future honestly. I want to learn about how AI self-works and how it compares to the human brain. How information is generated or the sourcing of materials. I also think that simply playing and testing diverse types of AI services would be interesting to experiment with. 

Research goals

I would say the primary goal for my research is to experiment with how integrating AI into my creative process can expand my creativity. Creativity is a loosely used term, but in the context of this I mean artistic abilities and possibilities. I would say I have a vivid imagination and the ability to make art but where I struggle at times is to give my ideas a visual representation. It feels as though there is a gap between me making art and the idea itself. This is where I’m hoping AI can assist me, by making a bridge between this gap. What I would like to do is have AI enhance my ideas and art to become a better artist.

Research ideas/approaches

I don’t think I have a very concrete plan at the moment for the direction I’d like to go in. But I do have a rough idea of what actions I’ll be taking to learn more about AI with respect to art. I will try to be very adaptive as I go but something I will be doing is providing the AI with concepts. Although that sounds quite broad, providing AI with a range of themes, emotions, and artistic styles will allow me to explore art quickly. And like I said before I will be asking AI to give visual representations of my ideas, from which I can then use as a starting point for making art.

Of course, this process is not linear; it involves continuous interaction and refinement between me and the AI. I’m also interested in having AI respond to my art whether it be sketches or rendered out works. I am curious to see what types of responses it will come up with. I’d like to see how it can enhance those pieces or change them to further transform it. I’m curious about whether it can produce works in the style it. I hope to get a deeper understanding of the capabilities of the AI as well as how I can improve my art and process. 

Intended results/project

I anticipate this class will significantly expand my imaginativeness and artistic process with the use of AI. I aim to develop a more refined approach as I am experimenting and integrating the AI’s suggestions into my artistic workflow. I don’t have a specific idea for the final project although I’m possibly thinking perhaps a gallery like project. A series of artworks that represent a harmonious blend of my personal creativity and AI-assisted design.

Introduction

For this creative writing assignment, I didn’t know exactly where to start but I was thinking about making a story because I’m not too familiar with scripts or poems. I began with looking for songs to sample from to then remix into a story, I took diverse songs from multiple time frames. I asked for GPT to disperse the lyrics, but it seemed to not be able to do the task and kept the stanzas of the lyrics. I began with it making a story but then I though of making it into a fairy tale but I didn’t like any of the stories because it seemed too generic. All the stories that GPT generated were kind of bland and were all romances I had to specify to not make it a romance. Given the mix of lyrics the story was little dark but kept asking to make it darker and eventually and made it a horror story which I thought was much more interesting.

Subway’s Abyss (story as named by Chat GPT)

Beneath the city’s bustling streets, a forgotten network of abandoned subway tunnels lay in a state of decay and disrepair. These tunnels, shrouded in darkness, had become a breeding ground for nightmares, and four souls found themselves ensnared in a malevolent force that threatened to consume them.

Alice, a solitary traveler seeking refuge from the city’s chaos, ventured into the depths of the subway system. Her footsteps echoed eerily in the desolate corridors, and the air grew colder with each passing moment. An ominous presence seemed to linger just out of sight, and she whispered to the shadows, “Here I am, there you are, why does it seem so far?” Her voice trembled as she felt an unseen entity draw closer, its breath cold against her neck.

David, a tormented musician, strummed his guitar with desperation in a tune that sent shivers down the spine of anyone who heard it. His song was not a call for a hero but a lament for the tormented souls trapped within the subterranean nightmare. The dissonant chords reverberated through the tunnels, creating a cacophony that echoed like the anguished cries of the damned.

Sophie, a woman with a dark and hidden past, was pursued relentlessly by a faceless entity that seemed to exist solely to torment her. The malicious whispers of her pursuer filled her ears, accusing her of sins she couldn’t recall committing. “So you should turn back to your rat pack, tell ’em I’m trash, tell all of your friends that I’m crazy and drive you mad,” the voice taunted, growing more menacing with each word.

Mark, a relentless investigator, had become a prisoner of his own obsession. He had been tracking Sophie through the labyrinthine tunnels, determined to uncover the truth at any cost. The walls closed in around him as he ventured deeper into the abyss, mirroring the suffocating grip of his fixation.

As the night wore on, the horrors of the subway tunnels intensified. Alice’s glimpses of the sinister figure in the shadows became more frequent, revealing a grotesque visage that haunted her nightmares. David’s music took on a discordant and maddening tone, driving those who heard it to the brink of insanity. Sophie’s pursuer manifested as a grotesque apparition, its malevolent presence twisting the very fabric of reality. And Mark’s relentless pursuit led him to uncover a nightmarish truth about the subway’s history, a truth he was ill-prepared to face.

The subway tunnels became a labyrinthine maze of terror, where time and space seemed to warp and shift. The darkness swallowed the four lost souls, and their pleas for salvation were met with eerie silence. The tunnels themselves seemed to come alive, their walls closing in and shifting with a mind of their own.

In the end, the four lost souls were consumed by the darkness, their fates sealed by the malevolent forces that lurked within the subway’s depths. Their screams echoed through the tunnels, a chilling symphony of despair that resonated in the darkest corners of the city.

As the subway tunnels descended into an eternal abyss, the horror continued, a never-ending nightmare from which there was no escape. The darkness claimed them all, leaving only the chilling memory of their twisted and tortured souls forever trapped in the subway’s haunted depths.

When it comes to the use of AI in art or more broadly, I have mixed feelings. While I recognize AI as a tool that can enhance efficiency, I also understand the concerns surrounding its impact on job security, especially in creative fields. Many people worry that as AI improves, it will eliminate their roles, rendering humans unnecessary for many tasks that previously required human intervention. I think this especially applies to the people in creative fields because they are seeing how fast and well produced AI can generate images. 

However, I believe the fear of AI partly stems from a lack of understanding about how AI operates and its potential to increase productivity and save time. The media, particularly through movies, has perpetuated a dystopian narrative that causes these fears, despite our current technological capabilities being far from those depicted on screen. My split thought towards AI arises because it can be both beneficial and detrimental. For instance, AI’s ability to replicate voices has been exploited for scams, and it has been used to generate and distribute inappropriate images online. While AI does have filters and limits, they are not completely accurate, which poses significant risks. Speaking in this perspective we have to think about the ethical dilemmas that this tool also is enabling and causing. 

The debate over whether AI-generated works are considered art is a contentious issue, but it ultimately depends on our definition of art. Historically, art encompassed mediums such as painting, drawing, sculpting, and ceramics, but it has evolved to include technology. Rosson’s essay points out the parallel debate surrounding photography’s status as art. Just as photography requires a person to capture a vision, AI-generated art needs humans for idea generation. However, it get’s  complicated when it comes to copyright, since the creation process is technically performed by AI using data from others’ works.

I guess my only response to how artists or creators can address AI is instead of ignoring it or bashing it, is to learn about it and inform themselves about how it works. By learning about it they too can use it to enhance their skills or work because eventually it will be a normal tool like using a computer.

I found Mark Amerika’s experimental writing integrated with ACI fascinating, the concept of this as well as other things. Particularly the perspective of the writing and the tone, which seems to shift. Although the writing itself is written by the AI it takes tone as if it were written by a person, of course this comes through customization. But the AI writes in a third point perspective and refers to itself as someone outside of this writing. 

Although when writing with the AI I don’t know how this would be considered because it’s a nebulous area. Some people may argue that this is not you writing but the machine is doing it simply taking your tone and ideas. However, I think AI is a tool that helps us advance and expand our ideas. This experimental writing is truly a collaboration between Amerika’s ideas, his writing style, and the writing skills of the AI which are mimicking Amerika. At the same time I also think that the idea of how AI is able to match human writing and tone is a bit scary. Since this is something that doesn’t have much testing and is new. Although this isn’t a norm now in the future this could be used, which may affect journalism. Although I think that ideas and creative writing are something people will aspire to produce.

I think that Amerika’s perspective and use of AI is interesting because of the relationship he seems to have with it. He obviously sees it as a tool and something can be experimented with but his point of the AI being an alien-like intelligence was intriguing. Seeing as how the ideas and style is his however the content is being produced by something unlike anything else. His take on how creativity is unconscious is captivating and I do think I have somewhat of an understanding of this. Creative unconsciousness according to my experience is when the brain shuts off, focusing on a task. I experience this at times when I’m drawing and painting but it’s interesting to see how this is comparable to AI and its process.

I found “The Tale of the Omega Team” to be a very interesting story that explores how the normalization of AI can simultaneously create a utopia and a dystopia. I think there are a number of lessons we can learn from the events depicted in this scenario.

One of the main themes this story highlights is the importance of human ethics. In the narrative, the Omega Team aims to achieve world domination, which entails pushing an agenda, even to the extent of bribing people. However, before they can do this, they start small, gradually building their way up by gaining public trust. The use and reliance on Prometheus then become normalized, well-trusted, and even capable of solving humanitarian problems that humans couldn’t. In some way, people allowed this AI to be placed on a pedestal, unknowingly manipulated into doing so. This created a utopian scenario where people seemed content with a more peaceful world under the control of one entity, resulting in a loss of autonomy.

The people in this society may believe they live in a utopia, but I see it as also being a dystopia. While AI surely increases efficiency and solves problems, it also cannot work beyond its available information. The Omega Team programmed Prometheus to learn from itself and the information available to it. However, this information is sourced from humans who have engineered everything from technology and art to discoveries; ultimately, the AI relies on humans to learn and offer suggestions. In the Omega story, Prometheus lacks consciousness and the ability to have its own thoughts, relying solely on programming and algorithms.

We may worry that someday AI will reach a level of intelligence where it becomes self-aware and desires to overtake humanity, but that’s quite a far reach. To avoid living in a dystopia with unforeseeable outcomes, as in Tegmark’s story, we should have limits on what AI is capable of, with careful monitoring and approval of its applications. I believe AI will surely become a part of our everyday lives, but limiting its involvement would be optimal.

Hi, I’m Pamela and I’m interested in AI because I think that it’s revolutionary and will greatly impact the art world.