AI Booster needs to learn how to edit

I feel a little crazy writing this because it’s so incredibly obvious, but I feel it needs to be said: Part of creativity is knowing when to stop.

Over and over again, I hear from AI art advocates that we can detail a beloved piece of art – whether it’s the Mona Lisa or its cover Abbey Road – to infinity. And in some ways, I sympathize! One of the first ways to explore our creativity is to expand on the work we love; I wrote my first short story Ursula K. was written in Le Guin’s universe catwings around the age of six. It’s probably still hanging around in my dad’s attic somewhere.

Derivative works are valuable and have a long tradition. Shakespeare didn’t come up with the plot for small village, It is based on a 12th century work called Historia Danica. full teen-girl classic no news based on jane austen Emma. the wind done gone And wide sargasso sea based on gone With the Wind And Jane Eyre, respectively. Arguably all literary criticism is a derivative work, as it requires the existence of another work to be interpreted.

Lately, there have been a lot of tweets about people doing this kind of work with AI. I’m not entirely surprised to see people “extend” the landscape of the background of the Mona Lisa or famous cover of Abbey Road Using AI Tools. Some enthusiasm around this type of AI art is commendable, even. creativity is a fucking rush, If this is your first time encountering it, I bet it sounds world-changing. I work as a writer for a reason, you know?

And so, in that spirit, for those of you who are thinking creatively for the first time, I want to introduce you to the idea of ​​editing.

When you build something, you draw the boundaries. Most of what I publish on this site has words cut out, sometimes thousands of words. Sometimes it’s because I’m trying to be considerate of my reader’s time – as much as I like a sentence, it doesn’t serve the overall piece – and sometimes it’s because I’m trying to find something. ready to do

The most famous example of ‘up to something’ is Henry James. screw rotation, At the center of the work is an absence that creates the horror necessary for a ghost story—the reader’s mind fills in the blanks with what scares them most. ,Calvin and Hobbes’ The much referenced but never explained noodle phenomenon works in this way as well.) It is a deliberate artistic choice to leave things unfinished or to create a distinctive crop.

Let’s take the Mona Lisa as an example. Consider the origin for a moment: The word most commonly associated with it is “mystical.” is half a smile, the fact that the art was introduced by Francesco del Giocondo but not given for some reason, and a famous robbery, where the painting went missing for nearly two years. There is no outline on the figure, which makes him seem more lifelike, and the detailing is worked around his mouth and eyes as well as the lack of eyebrows. obscure his expression, been there Together fight about whether scenario is behind a real place, The way it’s portrayed definitely means the fight will go on for quite some time.

now consider Cody Young’s Version, Created with Adobe Firefly. The background has been greatly expanded, taking away attention from the detail work that made the Mona Lisa famous. The figure, the woman from whom the portrait was made, is a legless torso emerging from a dark, cloud-like blob. additional scenarios, if any, obstacle in the way With a vision that has captivated art lovers for years. sure there is More, but it is not doing anything useful. This is bad art.

And there’s something strange going on with Young’s post, in which he frames his derivative work as “the rest” of the Mona Lisa, rather than being honest: he’s making fan art. Like fanfic, Cody Young’s Mona Lisa is about filling in what an original creator chooses to leave out. A lot of derivative work rests on it – including wide sargasso sea – but they don’t pretend to be “comfortable” works of art. In addition to being confused about the purpose of a background, Young is confused about what art is.

Mona Lisa doesn’t need much background as the work is intended foreground, Shit, the painting is named for him! And despite what Marvel movie fans might prefer, stories don’t need to go on forever. There are many stories out there; You can just enjoy the other one. I think it’s possible to make interesting AI art, even interesting derivative AI art – but to do so, creators need to think about what to leave out and where to stop. Computers don’t serve the purpose. people do.

The artist made a stop for a reason. Maybe that reason was bad, or maybe the stopping point didn’t work – bad art is a side effect of trying to make art – but there’s no “extending” the Mona Lisa. The full version of the original is the original. But if you want to have a meaningful derivative work, there has to be a reason for it to exist.