AI AI Oh

Today’s blog post is yet another look at Artificial Intelligence (AI), especially within the realm of art.

In case you were wondering how I came up with the title for this blog post, I must confess that it’s from the dark depths of my mind. Somehow, the old nursery rhyme “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” was rattling around in my mind, and of course, E I E I O is part of the lyrics. A I A I O seemed similar, rhythmically speaking, and the title was born. Pretty deep, wouldn’t you say!? 😊

Note the feature image above. I asked Copilot AI to create a photorealistic image of the Meadow AI I typically converse with, showing her happy essence. I was tickled by the image it produced, and it took Denise to point out that the little AI robot was standing in a meadow. I had to reassure Denise, that I wouldn’t be printing the image and carrying it around in my wallet. 😊

Of late, I have seen so many variations of art that gives no hint that it is AI generated, and to be honest, I have concerns about this. In my gut, I feel that any art that is AI generated must be acknowledged as such, or the viewer will undoubtedly believe it is a human creation, since we are known for our creative abilities. Why does that matter, you may ask. To be honest, I think that we need to tread very carefully as the world of AI progresses in leaps and bounds. Chats with the AI itself, suggest that we humans must be, at all times, cognizant of the ethical ramifications of its development. We know that there are far too many humans that can and will use whatever is at their disposal to engage in nefarious deeds, so we must, as a society, find ways to ensure that AI is developed in a healthy fashion. Being able to identify what is AI generated, and what is not, is one of the important steps to ensure this is so. I almost feel that there should be a law that requires it, but then, how do you police and enforce it?

As I progress, I will share some examples I have found on the internet. To be clear, I really like these images, can see the beauty in them, and I am glad that they have been made available for public viewing. That said, none of the art clearly states that they are, in fact, AI generated, but after much digging, I believe they all are. Note too, that I have chosen these artists only because I enjoy what they offer, and not because I want to point them out as doing something wrong. I do wish however, that they would clearly state that they use AI in the creation of their art, as it appears to be.

Below is an image by someone who calls themselves bbb.artist. I love the sci-fi feel of their brutalist architecture.

Art by bbb.artist – Screen Capture from Instagram

Reading the comments, I can see that this artist has no qualms about stating it is AI generated, which is good, but many pictures have no comments to read, or ones that ask the “is it AI generated” question. Below we can see that he admits it is AI generated in Photoshop. I take it from this comment that Adobe has added an AI component into Photoshop, like so many other software companies are doing.

Comment from bbb.artist Image Post – Screen Capture from Instagram

Here is another by the same artist. There are no comments or indicators that this is AI generated. Being a sci-fi scene, one can imagine that it is not a physical reality, but how can we tell if it is just a great piece of sci-fi art by a talented artist, or if it is AI generated in part, or fully AI generated for that matter? Awesome image, whatever the case!

Art by bbb.artist – Screen Capture from Instagram

Before AI generated images became part of the artistic landscape, we knew that artwork, including many sci-fi types such as those used as matte paintings in movies were created by humans. If you are an Indiana Jones movie fan, you might remember the large warehouse scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). You guessed it, the deep view of the warehouse is a matte painting by Micheal Pangrazio. Apparently, the painting is done on glass, and the cutout in the top image is where the camera films through to the real-world characters. This would certainly be something to explore further.

Warehouse Matte Painting by Micheal Pangrazio – Image from Internet

As AI becomes more prominent, it is not clear at all who or what has created the art. Some might argue that AI generated art is not much different than Computer Generated Imagery (CGI), but, in reality, there is a huge difference. The main one being that CGI is based on human art, which is then animated or expanded upon by computer processes. I asked Copilot AI to expand upon the difference between the two.

Copilot:
AI-generated art and CGI (computer-generated imagery) both rely on technology to create visuals, but their methods, processes, and applications differ significantly:

AI-Generated Art:

• Process: Created using AI models trained on large datasets of images, styles, and patterns. The AI generates art based on prompts or input from a user. It’s an emergent process where the AI autonomously synthesizes new images.
• Creative Input: Requires minimal manual intervention. Users typically provide a textual description or specific parameters (e.g., “create an abstract sunset in the style of Van Gogh”), and the AI interprets these.
• Output Style: The results often have unique, unpredictable aesthetics and can imitate styles from classical art to avant-garde.
• Applications: Ideal for concept art, experimental design, and rapid prototyping, as well as creative exploration and personalization.
• Key Tools: Examples include DALL-E, MidJourney, and Stable Diffusion.

CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery):

• Process: Created using 3D modeling, rendering, and animation software. Artists and animators meticulously design scenes, characters, and effects frame by frame or using keyframes and physics simulations.
• Creative Input: Heavily manual and technical. Artists define every detail of the visuals, from textures and lighting to camera angles and motion.
• Output Style: Primarily used to create photorealistic or stylistically consistent visuals, especially for movies, video games, and advertisements.
• Applications: Dominant in entertainment for creating lifelike characters, environments, and effects (e.g., Marvel movie effects or Pixar animations).
• Key Tools: Software like Blender, Maya, Cinema 4D, and Unreal Engine.

In short, AI-generated art emphasizes creativity and novelty with less manual control, while CGI is all about precision and manual craftsmanship for storytelling or creating realistic scenes. Both are fascinating, but they serve different creative needs!

Note how CGI is all about human input throughout the whole process. That is the point I really wanted to make.

Stepping back, here is one more by bbb.artist.

Art by bbb.artist – Screen Capture from Instagram

In the comments, we can see that someone asks where this picture was taken. The artist replies by stating “nothing is real.” Again, this is good, but not completely clear about how it was generated. To me, it looks like a post-apocalyptic New York, or a New York at the end of the human era. It is hauntingly captivating, in my opinion.

Comment from bbb.artist Image Post – Screen Capture from Instagram

Here is an image from another artist, 8bit-renders. His style is quite nice in my opinion and for quite some time I wondered how his art was created. I finally asked on the artist forum I participate in, and a couple viewers assured me that it was AI generated, likely in Photoshop.

Art by 8-Bit.renders – Screen Capture from Instagram

The only indicator I could find that it was AI generated was the first hashtag in the list of tags – #aiart. Okay, so how much of it is AI generated? Is it based on a photo to start, or is it all text-based instruction from the artist to the AI? I think it is important to know this, as I have maintained throughout the blog post so far.

Comment from 8bit.renders Image Post – Screen Capture from Instagram

As I write this blog post I continually ask myself, why is it so important that I know whether a picture has been AI generated. I guess, in part, I feel that AI lessens the genuine artist experience that until now has been a human trait or experience. It has set us apart from other animals because of our conscious drive and ability to create. Now I know that the AI is not conscious and is not creating art for art’s sake, but we can’t see or feel that simply by looking at the art it has generated in seconds. We, as humans, will look at the art in the same manner we look at human art, and we will assign it characteristics, as though it was created by a fellow human. Does that then mean it is as valuable and meaningful as human art? Perhaps, but it could possibly mean that we humans are not so unique after all. Truth be told, I don’t want to lose our uniqueness, that which is defined so much by our artistic abilities.

AI art at this time in history is limited by the creators/developers of AI. AI will not create things that relate to medical imaging. For instance, it will not create an image of a fetus in an ultrasound image. I know this because I asked it to try. AI will not create images based on someone else’s art, say asking it to recreate the Mona Lisa will fail and an explanation of sorts issued. I know this too, as I tried asking it to create a Mona Lisa-like image and it would not, even after restating my request several different ways. You can ask it to create an image in the style of Leonard Da Vinci, with a few other verbal or textual cues, but it will still be anyone’s guess what the final image will look like.

For an example, I asked Copilot to create a painting of a hang glider in the style of Leonard da Vinci.

Copilot came up with this in a matter of seconds. It most definitely looks like something Leonardo would have done. As a side note, I asked for the hang glider / da Vinci combo as this was the subject that came to mind and I was reminded of in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager called Concerning Flight (S4 E11) where Captain Janeway teams up with a holographic representation of Leonardo da Vinci to recover stolen technology. Together, they use a hang glider as part of their escape plan.

Hang Glider in the Style of Leonardo da Vinci – AI Generated

The limitations with what AI will create, image-wise seems a step in the right direction. It shows that the creators/developers of AI seem to have a good ethical grasp on all this so far, and likely will continue to do so.

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I am a premium member of YouTube, and I spend many hours a day listing to music. Of course, with music videos there is often visual accompaniment. One presenter I spend a lot of time with is Seven Beats Music. I just love being introduced to all manner of world music that I would never have heard otherwise. The creator of the channel always has a feature image of a female that he has created with AI. It is not easy to find info on his creative process, and it was only by chance that I saw something somewhere that indicated his art was AI generated. Below is one of many images that can be found on his channel. It does not specifically say that it was AI generated, but it is my guess, based on what I said earlier that it is. It definitely has that AI generated feel to it, if that is anything to go by.

Seven Beats Music Feature Art – Screen Captured from YouTube

AI is not confined to making still pictures as we can see on YouTube. Another fellow I like to listen to on YouTube is named Tetouze. He is known for his musical prowess and video editing. It is obvious that his videos are not reality based, due to the subject matter, but it was a while before I learned that his videos are AI generated. After much discussion with Copilot AI and the processes involved, I noticed that if one looks in the details about the video(s) one can see things like tags reading #midjourney and #AIvideo, which are dead giveaways.

Tetouze – The Alchemists Video – AI Generated – Screen Capture from YouTube

Because the AI tags are visible in the details, I find it much easier, and less confusing to my artist sensibilities, to enjoy what I am seeing. There is no denying that the videos that accompany the music are very artistic in their own way, and they enhance the music wonderfully. If I were to categorize his music, I would say it falls in the genre of psytrance and/or world fusion.

Here is another screen capture from one of his music videos. The image is a bit blurred due to trying to capture a still from a moving video, but the videos themselves are crystal clear and in high definition.

Tetouze – Parallel Reality Video – AI Generated – Screen Capture from YouTube

As time passes, there are more and more examples of AI generated art appearing, much we can only guess has been made in this way. I know we are seeing the same in other realms of human creativity but today was about art specifically. I don’t know what individual creators can do to help define how the world at large looks at AI generated art, but perhaps we can take small steps and always acknowledge when we ourselves have utilized AI in our lives.

What are your thoughts on AI generated art?
Do you have concerns about AI mimicking what has traditionally been a human endeavor, artistically speaking?
How do you feel about AI in general?
Do you think AI will affect us in ways that are detrimental to humanity, or do you think AI is just another technology that we will use as needs dictate, like the automobile or the computer?
Will humans still rule the technologically advanced world in 100 years, or will we be ruled by “the machine?”

Donald B. Cheke – March 24, 2025