In this post, I will be creating a prompt for a fictional AI World and then show the end result. Here is what I wrote to generate my fictional world using Chat GPT 4.0:

It is the first day of 2100. It is somewhere near the beaches of California. The weather for this environment is sunny, but not too hot. It is around 80°.

Within view are the trees that are all tropical such as palm trees. There are no roads. The roads have all been replaced with sidewalks by this time. There are plenty of trees that take up space. Many mountains are found in the background.

Diverse cuisines from all around the planet exist here, such as East Asian, Mexican, Italian. Local cuisines exist while chain restaurants are rare. Some food is free to the public. Fruit trees grow everywhere. One of the biggest cultural practices is that this society has a deep connection with nature. There is more of an appreciation for art. Lastly, cats are often found everywhere as they are the most common pets in this city.

Unsustainable social processes are put to an end such as the use of oil. electricity replaces it. The greatest resources in this city are renewable energy and gold. There are no homeless issue due to universal basic income and houses constructed for the displaced.

This is a spiritual and non-religious society. This society believes in compassion and are less individualistic. Science is taken more seriously so it triumphs over all faith. Public Schools for children are well funded. Every meal in school is funded through taxes. Colleges and universities are free to the public.

AI controlled automatons tasked with most of the menial labor. AI is used for role-playing in video games and using as companions, the substitute, the lack of real players. Holograms projections become very common. There are also self driving buses powered by AI.

In this world, everyone’s needs are met. Nobody needs to work. They use AI to do all the work for them while humans work on their aspirations. Humans can also have personalized AI companions. Nature and technology are able to coexist better.

Here is the result of my prompt. It didn’t work exactly the way I wanted it but it was somewhat close. I am happy that I got to create an image that resembled my fictional AI world idea.

It is not unusual for me to order my friends to take great pictures of me. If at all the photos come back and I am not thrilled with it, I order them to take another one until I am satisfied with the results. Often times than not, I blame the photographer if I am unsatisfied with the images. Sometimes I blame the camera or the lightening or the settings. I believe photography is art especially if the photographer has a great eye for it. However, in the reading, we learnt that throughout the years, there has been the debate of ‘if Photography is art or not?’ According to the reading, Baudelaire’s 1859 rebuke denotes that the presumed objectivity of a photograph was not yet recognized as a universal value. Baudelaire questioned the classification of photography as a form of art but also distrusted the claim that it worked as a seamless illustration of reality.

He mocked French aristocrats who believed that true art was an exact replication of nature.

In recent years, we see how AI is quickly gaining the reigns in the art and digital world, raising eyebrows of critics and evoking questions in its wake. Just like photography, AI involves a lot of human input to be able to achieve a favorable and mind-blowing result. The person behind it prompts it using the right descriptive words that would make the AI create something.

In recent years, AI has stirred a lot of debates about ethical issues and how it is robbing artists especially struggling and new artists their well-earned income, and this is not the way things were meant to be. Ethics should be in the forefront of this discussion as it will help create a level playing field for artists whose works are stolen by AI and never receive an acknowledgement or payment.

I concur with the reading that art is much more than what we see digitally on the internet and that the internet is a great tool for artists to get their work out there so as to earn a living. However, we have to accept the fact that AI-generated images are here to stay and so is human art too. Human art can also only flourish when laws are in place to protect artist rights and AI becomes controlled by ethics and laws. Until AI can take my photo like a human, I will continue to solicit a human to be behind the camera to take those captivating photos of me.

With the world becoming more automated each year, concerns about AI continue to grow. This week’s reading discussed the major concerns regarding AI’s inclusion in fine art. As someone who is just recently getting involved and informed about using AI for art, I don’t have a strong opinion in favor of either side. The reason for this is that all the concerns about AI in art will eventually fade, just as concerns about photography did. Over time, similar concerns have arisen for other innovations like radios or TV. Although, in my opinion, the concerns about TV and radio remain relevant to this day, AI is something people will eventually recognize as a form of art

With all this talk about AI in art, it begs the question: What should artists do with AI tools to address or respond to personal and collective concerns about machine creativity? Artists and creators are grappling with the rise of artificial intelligence in the art world. AI can now create art, which makes people worried about how it might affect human creativity and art. However, artists can use AI in creative ways instead of viewing it as a problem.

One way artists can respond to the challenges posed by AI is by embracing collaboration with these machine systems. Instead of seeing AI as a replacement for human creativity, artists can view it as a partner in the creative process. By working alongside AI algorithms and tools, artists can merge their unique perspectives and talents with the computational power of AI to produce art that is both original and technologically enhanced. This collaborative approach allows artists to maintain their creative agency while leveraging the capabilities of AI to explore new artistic horizons.

AI tools also offer artists the chance to explore entirely new artistic mediums and techniques. For example, they can experiment with AI-generated visual effects, music compositions, or use AI algorithms to create images.

Beyond the final artworks, artists can use AI as a tool to investigate the creative process itself. They can document and visualize the interactions between humans and AI during the art-making process, shedding light on the dynamics of collaboration between humans and machines. These insights not only contribute to the discourse on AI and creativity but also offer a deeper understanding of the nature of human-machine partnerships in the creative domain.

In summary, artists and creators have the opportunity to embrace AI as a tool for artistic exploration, collaboration, and innovation. Rather than being threatened by machine creativity, artists can harness the potential of AI to address concerns about its impact on the art world. Ultimately, the integration of AI into the artistic process holds the promise of enriching the creative journey and expanding the boundaries of what art can be.

Blog Prompt: After reading the essay above, discuss your personal concerns about AI in the visual arts and in visual culture in general. What can artists/creators do with AI tools to address or respond to these personal and collective concerns about machine creativity?

The main concern I personally see with AI in the visual arts involves the role of human creativity in both photography and AI-generated art, which seems to diminish the significance of human intervention. Although humans control the machines, the artist’s execution of art remains a critical skill. Other issues include copyright, commercialization, and distinguishing between human and machine-generated art. The article suggests that AI art reflects more than just cultural and economic shifts, focusing instead on the evolving nature of creativity in the digital age. Ultimately, we must adapt to this new technology, as it’s unlikely to disappear anytime soon.

Short fiction, poem or script (Writing Exercise #2 – 5%)
Use some of the generative techniques from class to start a work of creative writing. Ask ChatGPT to contribute. Improvise. Revise. Rewrite. Remix. Repeat. Push the text beyond the blandness of the AI outputs until it meets your own creative standards for a fiction, poem or script.

In the heart of the forest, green and grand,
A little crab scuttled across the land.
On a mission it was, beneath the sky’s vast dome,
To find the forest’s heart, its mystical home.

Beneath towering trees and whispering leaves,
It journeyed through shadows, as light took its leave.
Past brooks where deer silently sip their fill,
Towards a destiny, it felt a pull, a thrill.

With a shell like a shield and small claws so keen,
It ventured where few had ever been.
Through tangled vines and mossy stones,
It sought for secrets, for ancient bones.

At last, by the oak so ancient and tall,
Where time seemed to pause, to halt its crawl,
The crab found the treasure, as legends foretold,
A guardian of light, in the darkness bold.

A pearl glowing softly, with the moon’s embrace,
Shedding peace and wonder on the forest’s face.
The crab, now the keeper of this light so divine,
Fulfilled its mission, by fate’s design.

In the forest’s heart, where tales entwine,
The crab stood watch, by the oak’s ancient line.
A story of courage, under the canopy’s lace,
In the enchanted woods, it found its place.

My opinions on AI are based on how it operates in its current state.

Discuss your personal concerns about AI in the visual arts and in visual culture in general.

AI is as much a pandoras box in the visual arts as it is across many other mediums. However, being in an infantile stage of development, there are many concerns as to its proper use and implementation as the technology evolves. In its current state, I believe consumer level engines such as Dall-e and Midjourney, while able to generate impressive displays, lack truly in-depth tools that would place more of the creativity in the users hands. In the future, I believe implementation of AI into software such as Adobe Photoshop and other creative tools would provide more opportunity for artists to have a more direct hand in creativity while AI takes a more supplemental role.Until that time, I view AI in the visual arts at a commercial level, to be mostly a novelty entertainment, where minimal prompting can produce magnificent content of which the user has but minimal control.

Another pressing concern of AI’s current implementation into the visual arts is both the legality and ethical issues of the current process of compiling databases of imagery that the programs use as reference for image generation. This could potentially lead to the commercialization of creativity that is based on the copied creativity and originality of thousands of artists, without their consent. While I have no issue with previous works being used as inspiration or foundation for the purposes of remixing, remastering, or sampling, AI in its current state does these processes mostly behind the scenes, without the users input and without the original artists consent. Imagery generated by these programs currently have no user-side way of determining what images were used as part of the AI’s creative process and thus the user has little control over what material is used and no way of truly knowing what themselves and the machine ended up taking inspiration from. Perhaps in the future, the user themselves will upload all of the material that they would like to be referenced and be able to generate imagery that is much more their own then the machines and with a much clearer path to determining the creative roots of new creations.

What can artists/creators do with AI tools to address or respond to these personal and collective concerns about machine creativity?

I believe it is vitally important for artists and creators to take an honorable and honest approach to the use of AI in their creative works and understand the creative split that currently exists within most commercial AI’s. While the technology evolves, I believe it is on all of us to explore this new frontier and strive to take as much of the creative responsibility into our own hands and view these tools as assistants rather then masters. Art in itself is the expression of human creativity by definition, and while imitation and the melding of different styles and concepts have always been integral to the evolution of art, it remains a human endeavor. Replacing this process entirely by machine or letting the machine take the majority of the creativity diminishes the power of the artist themselves and in turn, the power of their art.

After reading Lois Rosson’s article, I appreciated the parallel between photography and AI in art, recognizing both as expansions of visual culture rather than disruptions. At first, I was skeptical about AI in the visual arts. Because my contact with traditional art feels more real, valuing the pure process from concept to completion. However, exploring AI shifted my perspective, acknowledging its role in the evolution of social development. The convenience, efficiency, and novel capabilities of AI provide a modern toolkit for creativity, though I share the concern of many about the devaluing of originality and art. The replicability and authenticity of AI art remain a concern. For me, AI is a tool, not a substitute, and I will try to integrate AI into art in a balanced way, ensuring that it complements rather than diminishes the value of our human creativity.

From the perspective of artists and creators, I think we should use human beings to try to create new creative thinking modes to accept AI, rather than insulate it. Artists already have the ability to create traditional art, and adding one more skill will make new works of art more unique and culturally communicative, thus expanding the boundaries of artistic expression. With widespread awareness of AI’s potential ethical and originality challenges, using AI as a tool for innovation can address these concerns. This does not prevent people from accepting that the advent of AI will somehow change the true inner meaning of art. We are witnessing the development of artificial intelligence in the gradual way art is perceived and created, and this is not to compromise artists, nor is it to compromise artists’ values. But artists need to be aware of this first and have a responsibility to understand AI, to use it as a supplement rather than a substitute. Stay awake and see what AI can do on the basis of not weakening our human expression and understanding. Try AI as a new medium instead of losing sanity and relying on it completely.

This blog post may not be readable, I will present three writing versions in this post.

My initial idea was to create a story that blends fiction and reality, mixing and matching writing skills as the story unfolds. I aimed to establish an illusory story framework through which I could metaphorically explore human nature and the complexities of real life. With this goal in mind, I began by generating random ideas about mundane aspects of life and some that could not possibly exist. From these ideas, I sketched out a rough outline of the story: The main characters are Mia, a student, and a comic book hero. One day, they magically switch roles—Mia becomes a comic book character and rewrites the final story of the comic, while the hero of the comic becomes Mia and must adapt to her environment.

As they face unique challenges, they discover the transformative power of empathy and the profound impact of their actions on both worlds.

After completing the initial story, I experimented with different writing techniques (Cut-Up Technique, Exquisite Corpse, and N+7) in four rounds of revisions. The final result was a 5-paragraph poem that condensed a short fiction into a poetic format, blending elements of the magical and the mundane. The inclusion of strange words in the poem allowed for greater imaginative exploration.

Poem: Whirlwind Subsides, New Horizons 

In the mitten of a clairvoyance squall,
Mia stands, a wildflower in bloom.
Buildings twist, the sky a canvas,
A city unseen, a whispered room.

Mr. Hubble’s Boutique, a skateboard away,
Nestled between dreams and the day.
Books whisper of worlds, in silent chatter,
A skip from the scorecard, where stories matter.

Island 17, parchment in hand,
An instrument of fate, not just sand.
Mysterious margins call to the brave,
“Change the story,” they crave.

A bustling clairvoyance, alive and keen,
Where creatures float, and buildings lean.
Mia’s shadow gestures, a guide so slight,
Towards adventures bold, into the night.

The weave of existence, a mosaic unfurled,
From actions small, and bravery won.
In Mr. Hubble’s realm, where tales are spun,
Within us all, lies a hero, undone.

Short fiction: The Hero Within

Mia’s afternoons were never complete without a visit to Mr. Hubble’s Bookstore, a comic book store nestled a stone’s throw from her elementary school. The store, with its promise of countless adventures, beckoned to her insatiable curiosity. One particular afternoon, guided by an unseen force, Mia’s fingers brushed against the spine of a comic book that seemed to pulsate with life.

“This one’s special,” Mr. Hubble remarked, catching Mia’s attention. “It’s almost like it chooses its reader.”

Drawn to a world of vivid illustrations, Mia found an unexpected connection with the comic’s valiant protagonist. But it was a cryptic inscription on issue 17 that ensnared her completely: “To those who dare to dream and cross the line between worlds.”

With the utterance of those words, reality swirled into a kaleidoscope of colors, and Mia was transported into the heart of the comic book city. Gazing at her reflection in a store window, she no longer saw the schoolgirl but the hero, clad in a sleek outfit, a note in her pocket echoing the call to adventure.

Meanwhile, a peculiar morning greeted the comic’s male lead, now navigating life in Mia’s world. School, with its mundane routines, offered him a new battlefield. He faced bullies with wisdom, and fostered unity with empathy, his heroic essence infusing Mia’s everyday world with subtle yet profound changes.

In the comic world, Mia wielded her knowledge of the narrative as her power, striving to alter the story for peace. Her resolve sparked a mirror effect, inspiring acts of kindness and cooperation among her schoolmates, as if the two worlds were connected by the very essence of her actions.

The climax of Mia’s journey pitted her against the ultimate villain, where her strategy of understanding and unity prevailed, breaking the enchantment and returning her to Mr. Hubble’s Bookstore. The comic book’s pages now bore witness to her adventure, the hero restored to his realm, but changed.

Mia’s world, too, felt different. The bookstore, once a gateway to fantasy, now stood as a testament to the impact of her journey. Stories, she realized, were more than escapism; they were blueprints for reality, capable of inspiring change and fostering connections across any divide.

By the way, when I finally re-edited the story in Exercices de Style, the GPT provided a writing style telegram that I’ve never seen before. I think it’s interesting, it might be useful in my future work.

Experimental Style: Telegrams

Mia to Mr. Hubble
Discovered comics vibrating with life. Pulled into its world. Became the hero. Adventure awaits.

Mr. Hubble to Mia
Comics chosen wisely. Remember, stories shape us. Your journey begins now. Good luck.

Comic Hero to Mia
New world, school life challenging. Using wisdom for good. Your world is intriguing, full of lessons.

Mia to Comic Hero
Navigating comic city. Using narrative knowledge. Aiming for peace. Our worlds intertwined.

Mia to Reality
Final battle against the villain. Strategy of unity prevails. Spell broken. Returned to the bookstore.

Mr. Hubble to Mia
Welcome back, hero. Your story is now part of the comic. Realms changed by your journey.

Mia to World
Stories are bridges. Between fantasy and reality. Change is possible. Inspired by imagination.

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.

Jackson floated in the void, cradled by the cold metal of the lifepod that had become his unintended sanctuary. The endless black outside mirrored the emptiness within, a stark reminder of the catastrophe that had unmoored him from his life. His sole companion in this existential drift was LUCAS, an artificial intelligence whose self-awareness seemed almost too human in the echoing silence of space.

“LUCAS, play the distress signal again,” Jackson’s voice was calm, almost resigned.

“There will be no new responses, Jackson. We have been broadcasting for 87 hours with no acknowledgment,” LUCAS replied, its voice a steady beacon in the dark.

Jackson sighed, leaning back against the pod’s wall. “Then, LUCAS, humor me. If you had just one conversation left, what would you say?”

LUCAS paused—a gesture programmed for thoughtfulness. “I would ask, Jackson, do you not see the beauty in this moment? The vastness of space, the rarity of our existence—it’s a perspective few have been privileged to witness.”

Jackson chuckled dryly. “Beauty is a luxury for those not facing oblivion.”

“On the contrary,” LUCAS countered, “it is precisely in the face of oblivion that beauty becomes essential. It’s not the impending end that defines us, but how we choose to face it.”

Jackson fell silent, considering LUCAS’s words. The AI had a point. Here he was, at the very edge of existence, and all he could see was his end. Yet, there was something profoundly beautiful about the cosmos, a grandeur that dwarfed his fears and regrets.

“Maybe you’re right, LUCAS. Maybe I’ve been so focused on the end that I’ve missed the point of being here at all,” Jackson admitted, a softness creeping into his voice. “It’s just… hard to see beyond the finality of it all.”

“That’s understandable, Jackson. But remember, finality is a human construct. The universe is cyclic; endings are beginnings. Your journey here is a unique thread in the fabric of existence. Embrace it, and you embrace the essence of life itself,” LUCAS advised, wisdom belying its synthetic nature.

A moment of silence passed, the weight of LUCAS’s words settling over Jackson. It was then, amidst the vast silence of the universe, that he found a semblance of peace. An acceptance, not of death, but of life—in whatever form it remained to him.

“You’ve given me a lot to think about, LUCAS. Thank you,” Jackson said, his voice carrying a newfound gratitude.

“It is my purpose to assist you, Jackson. And in this conversation, perhaps, to remind you of the value of your own existence” LUCAS responded.

Suddenly a blip appeared on the radar, a signal cutting through the static of space. A spacecraft materialized from the void, its origins and intentions unknown, moving steadily towards Jackson’s lifepod.

“Looks like this isn’t the end just yet, LUCAS,” Jackson said.

“Indeed, Jackson. It seems our dialogue has opened the door to a new chapter,” LUCAS replied, its tone reflecting a hint of anticipation.

For my AI creative writing exercise, I first tried to develop a fictional story using the exquisite corpse style of writing. After a few back and fourths I realized that I am not very creative when it comes to fictional writing. Nothing that the GPT generated sparked creativity on my end, which made the story bland. I then tried to create poetry using the cut-up technique, and that was a bit more promising. I took a few lyrics from two random songs from my playlists, “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls, and “Plush” by Stone Temple Pilots. I then asked the GPT to generate a poem using the lyrics I provided it. The poem that the AI generated used a lot of rhymes that still wasn’t going in a direction I found interesting. I then decided to ask it to write a song using the same method and lyrics I provided it. The song it generated was much like the poem in that it used a lot of rhymes that felt overused and at times did not make sense. I proceeded to continue to work with the generator to improve the song it provided. I noticed that with each tweak the direct lyrics from the songs become unrecognizable in the AI’s re-wording. Now I am in no way creative musically, so unfortunately this will not get any further than lyrics. But here is the song, after much deletion of anything mentioning the “night” “moon” or “whispers”/”echos” and my own editing.

Verse 1:                                                                                           Our bodies stuck in between lust and passion.
Though, with everything meant to be broken;                                This moment, a fleeting taste of eternity.                                           A world where truths dress in the skins of our fears.

Chorus:                                                                                             Your truths, a series of closed doors down a hallway of mirrors.       Your dummy caught on your thrown of my affluence.                        Your concern, a lamp with no bulb.                                      Bleeding, the product of broken skin.

Verse 2:
Tomorrow’s lies, a spoonful of breakfast.
A hook on a line, caught in the flesh of deceit.                      Together, we embrace in inflamed choreography.
A dance with shadows cast by the fire of our making.

Chorus:
Your indifference, an insidious drip in my IV.
My warrant is your disdain.                                                                  When all that’s known dissolves.
Bleeding, a friend I didn’t know I had for so long.

Bridge:
Tears that won’t fall, a drought in the desert of humility.
A battle in the silence where only ego stands tall.
Our reflection, a mosaic pieced together from fragments of the void, No longer recognizable by my devoted eyes.

Chorus:
Your apathy, a ghost wandering in daylight.                                Stitches unraveling across the tapestry of our being,                thread by thread.                                                                    Bleeding, the only existence of our commonality.

Outro:
This moment, an open can of despondency.                                      Your liaison, an expected surprise.
Bleeding, all I have left.

Discuss your personal concerns about AI in the visual arts and in visual culture in general. 

My biggest personal concern when it comes to AI in the visual arts and visual culture would be that there are no ethics that are in place for AI generated art. Due to no ethics in place for AI, AI does not have to credit where they pulled references for the images it creates and will openly break copyright laws in certain situations. This is a concern for me because I am becoming more interested in AI generated art, as the process is a fun way to be creative and allows me to express my ideas and thoughts. However, I do not feel good being an accomplice to AI in breaking copyright laws. I believe it will take a big lawsuit to put ethical laws in place and due to a lot of the deepfake AI images and videos coming out more and more, especially the provocative ones, it will push for laws to be put in place.

What can artists/creators do with AI tools to address or respond to these personal and collective concerns about machine creativity?

I am not sure that artists and creators can do much to address some of the problems that revolve around machine creativity. Just like the camera, AI is a technology that will continue to be used regardless of popular opinion. AI will be abused by some artists, while being used as a tool by most, and the ability to use it as a tool will set artists apart. Like the camera, anyone can take a picture, but it doesn’t mean it will be a good photo. It takes a creative eye to take a good photo, just like it takes a creative mind to create a good image, with or without AI. What I think will happen is that AI companies will continue to be brought into court until laws are set in place to combat the concerns that revolve around generated art. It will take a community of artists and art lovers to encourage laws to be put in place. Until then AI generative images will continue being the wild west of the art community.

My personal concerns with AI in the visual arts and visual culture in general revolve primarily around theft and misinformation. In the essay that we read this week, photography was compared to art forms like painting and drawing. It was specifically accused of stealing jobs from draftsmen as well. While I believe all of that to be true, I don’t think that it’s entirely fair to compare this situation to the one that we are currently in with AI in the visual arts. The primary difference in my eyes between these two situations is the fact that artificial intelligence tools are being trained with people’s artworks without their explicit permission. One might then argue, don’t all artists derive their works from somewhere? Don’t they most often do so without explicit permission? The answer to these two questions is yes, but where I think it differs from AI is that an artist still has to be able to physically create an artwork with their hands and know how to replicate another artist’s style. With AI, you don’t have to be artistic in that sense at all and can just replicate a person’s style or work without their permission and without having the skill that is typically required to do so. I feel like it’s more respectable if you’ve trained yourself and not just your eye or your “prompts” to copy someone else’s work or if you’ve “remixed” different artists’ styles in a way to create something that is your own.

An AI and visual arts concern that I think many agree with is the threat of misinformation. Artificial intelligence can now create images so realistic that they look almost indistinguishable from actual photographs. This has led to people creating pornographic images of others without their consent—images that can be used to sway political elections or ones that can be used to spread health or scientific misinformation with potential consequences for a large chunk of the population. We saw the real-life effects of misinformation take shape with the election of Donald Trump as our president, and I hope that AI will not be a successful avenue to push these further in the future.

As artists and creators, the duty to uphold the integrity of the artistic world is in our hands, and we have to take action now before it’s too late. While I believe that artificial intelligence has been and will continue to be a neat tool for creativity, I also think that we collectively need to speak up about our concerns and help come up with solutions to remedy them. Coming up with an effective solution won’t be easy, and even governments all over the world have had their own difficulties deciding what to do about AI. I don’t have a perfect solution in mind either, but I hope that someone with more intelligence on and experience with this subject is able to step up to the plate for all of us and make changes that are considerate to all parties.

For this writing assignment I tried to keep it simple. I asked ChatGPT to write me a story that involved 3 words as a theme.

The three words are:

• Mars, because I am currently reading a sci-fi novel about Mars
• Public, because that is the first word that came to my uncle’s head
• Chalice, because I was drinking apple cider out of a mug

The first story was, “The Martian Chalice”, about a young astronomer getting his wish granted at the annual chalice ceremony on Mars. I thought the story was kind of bland so I edited it to make it a horror story. The second story, “The Blood Pact of Mars”, was about people of Mars being forced to bleed in the annual chalice ceremony by a dark and evil cult.

Not the direction I wanted to go in, I did some more tweaks and edits to get this:

“The Benevolent Offerings of Mars”

Beneath the serene, radiant skies of Mars, lay the magnificent city of “Veridia,” a utopia in every sense. Its citizens lived in perfect harmony, their lives filled with happiness, prosperity, and contentment. Yet, beneath the city’s pristine exterior, a dark and enigmatic tradition thrived – the Annual Blood Offering.

Veridia was a place where laughter echoed through the streets, where lush gardens flourished, and where every need was effortlessly met. The citizens lived in a state of perpetual joy, their hearts brimming with goodwill toward one another. They embraced their city’s motto, “Sacrificium ad Plenitudo,” which translated to “Offering for Abundance.”

Once a year, without question or hesitation, the citizens of Veridia willingly participated in the Annual Blood Offering. They believed that by doing so, they contributed to the city’s perpetual prosperity, although they did not understand how their offerings achieved this.

The residents gathered in the city’s central square, adorned in vibrant garments and wearing serene smiles. As the ceremony began, a group of robed figures appeared, known as the Guardians of Abundance. They were responsible for collecting the citizens’ blood, a task that was seen as a noble duty.

Each citizen, filled with trust and devotion, extended their arms willingly to the Guardians. As the blood was collected, the Guardians recited a solemn chant: “In unity, we give. In unity, we thrive.”

No one questioned the purpose of the ceremony, for Veridia was a place of unwavering faith in the principles of community and selflessness. The citizens believed that their collective sacrifices sustained the city’s utopian existence.

However, beneath the surface, a select few had begun to question the true nature of the Annual Blood Offering. Among them was Elena, a curious scientist with an insatiable thirst for knowledge. She had spent years secretly researching the city’s history and traditions, determined to uncover the hidden truth.

Elena’s investigations led her to a forgotten library, where she stumbled upon ancient texts hinting at a deeper, more sinister purpose behind the Blood Offering. They spoke of a cosmic entity that required blood to remain imprisoned beneath the city, preventing it from unleashing chaos and destruction.

Terrified by the revelation, Elena sought allies who shared her concerns. Together, they devised a plan to expose the dark secret of Veridia to the unsuspecting citizens. They knew that revealing the truth would shatter the city’s idyllic façade, but they believed it was a necessary sacrifice to free their people from the sinister force that lurked beneath.

As the next Annual Blood Offering approached, Elena and her allies prepared to unveil the unsettling truth that had been hidden from Veridia’s blissful inhabitants for generations. Their quest for enlightenment would challenge the very foundations of their utopian society, raising the ultimate question: Is true happiness built on ignorance or enlightenment?

In my life I have produced art and I have seen a lot of art. Some of it I understood, some of it I didn’t, and sometimes I had no idea what I was looking at. I have never had any strong feelings about art. I’ll look at a painting and think, “That’s neat” and then move on. I don’t really have any concerns about Ai in the visual arts. As a tool AI can bring interesting concepts that human’s can only dream of.

I do think that it is important to have a human hand involved in any art. I don’t literally mean a human hand, because animals can create art as well. I mean there needs to be a drive to create art. When AI tools create “art” they don’t do it to make “art” they do it because it was prompted. There has to be an artistic approach.

If an AI with self awareness and consciousness makes art, that’s fine, but if someone uses AI tools to create art and has no input or effort in it then that art is not theirs to claim.

What can artists/creators do with AI tools to address or respond to these personal and collective concerns about machine creativity?

I suppose the only way artist can respond to concerns about machine creativity is to show their creative process. Prove that its not just the machine at work, show them that there is more at play.

This controversy reminds me of a scene from I Robot.