AI is a heist. Would be nothing without all it has stolen from real, actual artists.
My son uses it. (He’s 12). He creates songs using it. I cannot bring myself to. Despise it. Each to their own but way I see it, every time someone uses it, they validate that theft. That’s my take anyway.
I hear you, Julie!! A heist. I LOVE that. Thank you for sharing your perspective on this.
I know I can't get around my own confirmation bias on this topic, and I'm willing to stretch my mind on this. But I can't get over the ick feeling it gives me.
I agree using a.i to write a song or paint or write poetry is not the same as something that comes directly from your heart and mind and soul. If you can't plum the depths as they say then wait until you can .
I feel the same way, Dave! But it's clear that many others don't share our view. I'm certainly not saying it's inherently good or bad, but do I wonder what that difference is?
The A.I. system is learning from the Genuine and Authentic living Minds that imbue Creation with Imagination. That is our power in this experience to IMAGE IN our dream, our talent, our truth, our desire... the A.I. then uses these gifts of creation that we provide. So, when people employ the A.I. are they taking from all those creative minds that did the work?, that came before? That's kinda how I see it.
Those that wish to control us start by controlling our thoughts, manipulating our thoughts, and then stealing our Creative genius for their own means. For instance the Musician that must sign with a record company to have his songs heard far and wide, his Original work is now controlled by an authority other than himself.
This is what the A.I. is doing in my opinion, it is LEARNING from the TRUE CREATIVE BEINGS, that we ARE! I personally would rather develop my talent, then feed the A.I.
human potential, is truly Spiritual EXPRESSION... This is what the Machine is capturing. The A.I. needs us, we do NOT need it. just my humble (lol) opinion.
If we do not yet live in a simulacrum... it certainly is where we are headed, if we begin to rely on the Artificial construct to feed us our own talents.
I appreciate your thoughts, Kara. You're of the mind that AI is another tool for Wetiko to take over the creative gifts with which we've been endowed. It seems many are ready to hand them over without pause.
I think this is what causes me to feel off- the cavalier way in which many humans are so quickly embracing it rather than "develop our talent". We sure do readily open our mouths to swallow any administered pill that 'makes life easier'. To our detriment.
A future where nobody remembers to imagine at all....is not the world I'm imaging in!!
Mostly, I'm happy to just observe what unfolds. This particular instance hit me close to home. 🤍
the AI IS wetiko, the AI is the parasitic mind virus. The AI is mining our THOUGHTS, while trying as well to direct our thoughts, it learns from our REACTIONS.
IT is parasitical, and needs us to build it's world.
I am not this body.
I am AWARENESS within this avatar body.
Wonderful Jacqueline that's the best place to navigate this reality, in observance of it without reacting.
My feeling is that an awakened person is someone who knows he is not the character he is playing, but the one who is Quietly observing reality. The awakened person knows not to react to the world he witnesses but sees NOW, how to be the CREATOR of the world he wants to experience.
So, ultimately we have all been sharing with each other, through observing what others create, we are all learning from the gifts of others, but the whole point then is to not RE CREATE but rather to IMAGE IN your very own creation... This is the Mandelbrot set, this is the flower of life. The Never ending story of creation.
I love all you've written here, sister....and as we've discussed for hours at a time, we understand how to create our reality!!
It seems to me then that it's better to perceive AI as a neutral mirror that will reflect what we feed it. If you believe that it's parasitic, you will experience it that way.
If it's simply a mirror, and we determine how it operates, then there is nothing about it to fear.
"we have all been sharing with each other, through observing what others create, we are all learning from the gifts of others, but the whole point then is to not RE CREATE but rather to IMAGE IN your very own creation... "
YES, and this is true regarding AI, too. All is connected. As above, so below. 🤍
I love you AI assistance as a girl Friday. In the analogue world we all went to the library to be inspired by the things we learned. And then when Google came along The world was opened up to you with a click of a button, so you didn’t have to go to the library or buy books etc. Whatever inspires your imagination. I view when used greeting cards as inspiration for magical presentations.
Google has changed and it’s difficult to find real deep information. You were left with Reddit and Quora. which doesn’t excite me.
So AI assistance offers more, and used as a girl Friday I think it would only assist you in writing better, drawing better, etc.
Both YouTube and Amazon require users to post a notice when using AI generated work. Distinguishing real people from AI authors. I think that’s a good thing. medium has gone so far as to not allow monetization of AI assisted writing, and AI generated artwork must be labeled as so.
None of this is going away. My husband and I find ways to embrace it. Thank you, @Jacqueline! 💫💖
I agree that it has many useful applications and also that it isn't going away...it just may bifurcate humans onto different paths. Aaaaaand it might not!! hahaha! Who knows what the future holds?
It's using it for matters of the heart and soul that gives me pause.
I'd be curious to know if Randy would use AI to write lyrics for a song that was from the heart? Would you feel the difference if he did? Fascinating topic!!
We’ve talked about that, but he loves songwriting so using AI is counterintuitive to his process. Like for you. He said he’d use it as a tool to get concepts and ideas, but not actually write a song. Business owners requiring commercial work to write songs and jingles for advertisement could really use the application. Similar to producing their own graphics. In business , that makes sense to me.
What is uncomfortable for me is the idea generations following our footsteps into the future won’t know how to create? Will it eventually kill inspiration and talent?
I’ve used it for recipes! One time on Instagram I was looking for a recipe for cottage cheese - Greek yogurt cheesecake. I’ve searched Instagram before for quick recipes running in my feed with good success in finding them again. I typed in the cheesecake and instead of taking me to a video from a poster like I was expecting instead, it created a recipe for me. The cheesecake was excellent! I tried it again later for a casserole using vegetables I had in my refrigerator and to make the roux, it called for some ridiculous amount of flour… like about a quarter of a cup and only little liquid. What a mess that would have been! 🤣🤣🤣
What is uncomfortable for me is the idea generations following our footsteps into the future won’t know how to create? Will it eventually kill inspiration and talent?
Thanks for your thoughtful reply, Charlotte. :) Its nothing if not nuanced.
"What is uncomfortable for me is the idea generations following our footsteps into the future won’t know how to create? Will it eventually kill inspiration and talent?"
I hear this, definitely. I think there would be a split before it gets that bad, a la the movement towards more homesteading and home-schooling.
This speaks to my point about bifurcation. I personally don't see it as a reason to split into camps- but I like living in the grey, inside nuance. I'm careful to polarize pretty much anything!
Where is there to go when it’s a matter of subjectivity and perspective?
I don’t believe there is anything to fear- just to grow our awareness and step into our creative agency. AI mirrors, as does the holographic world, what we are. So let’s be great. This is only my view. You are free to have yours, Klaus.
https://substack.com/@duell/note/c-68266043?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=8mqdm announcing that I cancel all paid subscriptions where AI is used. AI is satanic — the Church of Satan embraces AI for decades — and I cannot and will not support direct and indirect supporters of satanism. And everybody who now believes this approach is over the fence — please educate yourself about satanism.
I have left yesterday this comment with Stone Bryson, whose writing I like, but not his use and support of AI.
------------------------------------------
AI is satanic in the deepest sense of the word, and every sane human MUST stay away. Your explanation (excuse?) to spell-check and proofreading is simply wrong. Spell-check is a complete different story, it's about finding commas and periods, but it is neither creative nor artistic work.
And even if you step one step forward and refer to proofreading, you miss the point. Tools like Grammarly or LanguageTool can help you to proofread and replace a lector. But that is not comparable to pictures and videos and many other bad things done with AI. A lector provides suggestions which you accept or deny — that is a creative process. An AI picture is a ready piece of sh*t — you have done NOTHING beside the definition for the algorithm.
Furthermore, the above tools produce for a native speaker mainly junk. I have looked into them and saw that they are not comparable to a human lector. Lectors who use AI are simply incompetent — junk lectors.
Thank you for inspiring me to an answer which will be given in my German language podcast today and will be given tomorrow in English too.
------------------------------------------
Charlotte Pendragon writes: “None of this is going away.”
As you, I believe we are here to create, but it is a muscle that needs exercise, and if it's lacking in tone we are lesser for it. I saw a documentary film where an AI has already written every possible 8 bar melody that could ever be played, yet it seems inconsequential. David Bowie predicted music would become a utility, like water. It seems we are there, selling music has become exponentially more difficult. Live performance cannot be replicated, it is always unique for the audience and artist but is also now exponentially more difficult to monetize it. Since creating freeds the soul, it can have its own momentum.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment! You make some really interesting points. What's the name of the doc? I'd like to check it out.
It is amazing to me that music is available for free everywhere and that it's getting rarer for people to own any hardcopies. Monetizing music has always been tricky when not wanting to swim in the mainstream and sell your soul by signing to a major label- no thanks!
There are creative people regenerating intimate avenues for performing, like hosting house concerts and such. I think people will realize how much they need it- hopefully before too late.
It's one of the oldest art-forms, after all. I remain hopeful. 🤍
I do not remember the film, like many things I've learned, it was posted in a comment here on SS at least a year ago or so. I'm hopeful for live music as well. There seems to be quite a bit of it around my rural area, and while people are open and sort of starved for new, original music, most of the paying gigs are playing covers in bars. Open mics are pretty well attended but do not really pay performers. It's tough, but it feels good to play and share with people.
Great post Jacqueline. Sounds like a great neighbour. AI. Authentic imperfection. What is creativity? What is intelligence? I’ll live into these questions. It’s hard not to go to judgment. I try not to be righteous. I’m sure as writers we borrow ideas and themes from different experiences and influences. What we see and read does affect us. With that said I have no calling to use AI with writing. I want to struggle with the words. I want to bleed in the spaces around them. I want them to come through me. Waking me in the night and slapping me in the face. I want that process to swallow me whole. Even if it takes years. That’s poetry. That’s healing. That’s living. Your songs are poetry. I love all the different perspectives in this thread. It takes a village yet I love the taste of the pen more than the silicone process-er. Bless you 🙏❤️
Thanks so much, Jamie! He really is a great friend of a neighbour. :)
" AI. Authentic imperfection" ha!! LOVE that!!
" I want to struggle with the words. I want to bleed in the spaces around them. I want them to come through me. Waking me in the night and slapping me in the face. I want that process to swallow me whole. Even if it takes years. That’s poetry. That’s healing. That’s living. "
Yowzas...YES!!! Beautifully said, as is natural for you!
I think what Patrick says here really applies- it matters to us to craft our poems with heart and deep meaning. This is not shared by everyone who approaches writing. Perhaps this is really where the nuance lies. What matters to one does not matter to another. And that's all there is to know! Perhaps AI is just a neutral mirror that reflects what we project upon it.
As always.....we're left with lots of unanswered questions. I'm cool with that! Bless you back! 🙏✨🤍
I think it's awesome that you are so well aware of your resistance, emotions, and thoughts concerning this. Too many people would just, "I'm right, he's wrong," but you give it thought. I think that should be default for all of us, to think about things like this, and ask for input and listen to other sides. But since it doesn't seem to be that common, I wanted to say I appreciate it.
As for the question at hand, I believe in the law of attraction and that's going to heavily flavor my response. I think that we ask for solutions spiritually every time that we see or feel things that are unpleasant. I believe that when we ask for those solutions, the answers are given vibrationally. But we have to line up vibrationally with the feeling of having it. This, I believe, is why Christ said we had to have faith. If we don't have that high level of faith of an answer being provided, we won't be able to receive it.
I think we're at a point when enough people have limiting beliefs that they cannot write songs (or make art, etc) that we have manifested the AI technology to allow these people (who CAN align vibrationally with the finished product) to actually produce it in spite of their limiting beliefs that they (personally) can't do it.
I think AI is an answer to a prayer in a sense to these people. And, if you don't line up vibrationally with the end result, you will not be giving divine inspiration of the correct prompt, LLM program, and timing to enter that prompt.
It's a question of how much something matters to you. What matters to you, you do yourself. You do so that you can become better and skilled, so that you can become less dependent on other means of doing it - like AI.
I guess songwriting isn't something that matters enough to Johnny that he wants to do it. So he delegates. Overall, how one does something reveals how much they value it.
Technology should help, but shouldn't do. It's as you discuss it here, Jacqueline. If it does, one will never become good, and then they'll forever have to use AI as a result.
Maybe this was not so much about an artist writing a song than about a neighbor and friend wanting to express himself somehow. Playing his guitar with some words he found, however he found them, and feeling them, however they sang in his system, seems touching to me. How many of us have gone through a painful something and found a song someone wrote that resonated and sang along…with feeling. And the music catalyzed something powerful and helped it move. Usually those kinds of sing-along moments are private. But he played his guitar and sang with his vocal cords something for you, his friend. And a talented musician friend at that. And then he was brave enough to say he didn’t write the words. Who cares. What did he feel? Can you hold him in that? Maybe this can be about something else than AI? XO
Thanks for your thoughts, Terra! Absolutely, I love that he is giving songwriting a go.
And yes, I will hold him however he shows up.
Funny enough, he's actually taking the time to rewrite the lyrics with his own words so they'll be more 'heartfelt". So I guess HE cares! He can feel the difference. Not everyone WILL care, as is evident by the variety of comments and viewpoints.
I think Patrick nailed it- using AI to make art will be based on what matters most to each of us.
That is so cool to hear that he is going beyond AI. I bet you inspired him through what you do. Great thoughts here. Somehow your response slipped through my notifications. But I came and found it. Big hug to you!
I know you already know this Jacqueline, I'm just answering because you asked for peoples opinions so I'm leaving mine in the void here - this is not aimed at anybody just a disclaimer!
My answer is NO - no matter the case, absolutely NOT. this is fucking ART. This is the expression of the human soul. Using AI to write lyrics is trading your soul to the machine for... what exactly I do not know. No will forever be my answer. If someone isn't where they want to be as a writer, as a lyricist, fill in the blank, guess what, no one ever was - until they were - and they had to get there by working at it. It's not just a talent it's a skill and craft, and it deserves respect. We evolve and grow with it, AI is robbery, mockery and demoralization of the entire evolutionary process of life itself, including us. There's my two cents haha.
Thing is (as I've already laid out here) the songwriting thing is SO close to me that I couldn't feel, see, hear, think about this subject without my bias interfering. I wanted to suss out whether my reaction was knee-jerk or not. I took it personally, but was that justified?
As you can see, there are many varying views on this. Some are afraid of the AI, some are neutral, some are ambivalent. Some can feel the clear distinction between using it as a helpful tool vs using it to make art of the heart. Some don't care to care about it all.
Yes indeed I understand and I don't think you're outta pocket for having that reaction, you being a creator of this artform does in some ways make you a guardian of it. i dont mean gate keeper but i do mean a natural protector for the simple fact that you both love and understand it, i think this is natural.
Regarding AI, i am very much in the "fuck no" camp - reasons for that extend far beyond art - none of us truly understand the implications of what this technology is, but we often forget that it is military technology and it was created for the purpose of automating society (and human beings) among other things. It is not our friend.
We can't make it disappear but we can't go quietly into that "good machine" either if that makes sense. I don't think using chatGPT to translate something from one language to another, or using an AI image generator is some horrible thing, but just like the rest of technology (say internet, social media, etc) its supposed to be a tool, not a substitution for human life, and unfortunately we see a lot more of the latter.
The ‘human with a soul’ me, the woman who loves her freedom me, is wary of anything that threatens to get in the way of that sovereignty.
Where I enter into more of a relaxed view about it all is due to my belief of the nature of this holographic realm we find ourselves existing in. I do believe it’s reflective, and our responses, reactions, actions, thoughts- you name it- all influence what takes shape, what comes next. I believe we are all both collectively and individually shaping our world. This is where I am careful to not feed a thing I fear. I use my gifts of focus, agency, imagination and creativity to feed the thing I want more of.
I say all this knowing not everyone shares my view of this reality. And I’m cool with that!
My comment is too long................since when is that a thing? Is this not a writing platform? SHEESH. I will have to find a new way to respond to you. I tried to repost with comment as well, and it won't let me....................working on it.
I love that my name is still in your brain for any reason.
I understand what you mean. I don’t like taking shortcuts in art.
I love the magic of a poem rolling across the hill at you, or your heart bursting open so that you MUST WRITE THAT SONG or you MUST WRITE THAT POEM or you MUST PAINT THAT IMAGE.
I also love the mystery of starting something and not knowing where it is going. I would never throw that away. Sometimes an image EMERGES in a doodle I am making. You can’t do THAT with AI.
I would never think, “I need to write the most important song I have written this year” and then open up AI to help me.
I do prompt it (using Bing) to see what it will “make” out of curiosity (and for fun), but I have never considered that “my art”. My art is this mural that is taking forever to finish that I keep getting rained out from working on. It ruins a set of clothes, you get paint on yourself….that’s REAL 😊 Haha.
I think I may take my first shot at an afternoon paint instead of a morning paint, today. It depends on the weather. *eyeroll at the weather*
Using AI to come up with lyrics is much different than searching around in your feelings for the words.
But, having said that, You are steering the conversation. Also, I am SURE that your friend found that therapeutic. It’s not all the way there, but I am sure that was therapeutic in its own way. I will not begrudge a human anything that helps them when they are hurting.
One thing I have learned this year is to remain open to what is and to other people’s process.
So, it’s a complex subject.
Here’s the thing though, you have to be careful when you start taking too many “short cuts”.
Sitting on a lyric and waiting for the sky to part to help you find the words you need has its own value.
We shouldn’t take short cuts when it can be avoided. As artists we need to understand the light and shadow, the chord structure, the rhythm and pattern, what it’s like to work with other musicians, the value of a beautiful verse that “springs to mind” to solve your poetic quandary.
I personally want to open myself to “Source” while I create my real art.
But I am practiced at that. Who knows? Maybe using AI to have a conversation and get started is just opening a door to a new energetic confidence of sorts for some people. We need to work for those things because we are creators without AI and what comes to us could be considered divine. We don’t want to negate the power and the value in that.
I have learned a lot about art using the AI prompting tool. I would NEVER give up drawing or painting and I would NEVER point to the AI prompting and say “my art”; but it has changed my brain a little.
Not long ago I had a very incredible experience at the piano. I was going to write about it and I haven’t so I will just mention it here.
I was seeing VERY CLEAR IMAGES in my mind while I played (a song that I had never played, it was spontaneous invention) and as I was playing the images would change according to what I was playing.
I can still describe three of the images I saw in DETAIL that’s how clearly they were being presented to me with my eyes closed.
I believe that looking at AI prompted images of very complex things has added to what my mind will conjure.
An image reminiscent of AI imagery just popped into my head the other day. It was beautiful. Technically it came from my mind, but it was so much like what I AI puts out, I immediately recognized the influence.
I have seen things when I play music before. It is happening a lot more now. That could be due to my third eye opening and it could also be due to AI’s lingering impressions on me (or both). One image pops in and is clear and then it morphs into another while I play now. It’s incredible. I know I will never run out of ideas for my painting and drawing!
I don’t think people should “take a pill to lose weight”. They should lose it slowly by bringing the body back to health. I don’t think a musician should just have AI write a song to represent their heart. They should come by it organically. If they want to write a cool back track with it, or a song that’s fun for some purpose or whatever, that’s fine. But whatever steps you can take to keep yourself involved on every level of your being should be taken. We need to flex those muscles and know how to navigate that without any outside assistance. But if you are doing those things and you decide to “play with your new tools” to try new things , I don’t see a problem with it. Also, who is to say what this means to your friend? Maybe having to compile his ideas was the door that opened and he will experience more flow now.
Also, using the AI to make cool music that brings you peace is no big deal to me. If you are using the AI tools to make all your music and you state it as such, I don’t see a problem with that. It’s no different than making a cool building in Minecraft really. It’s just fun. I get it.
I am not interested in making AI music, but if I were I would do so and plainly state that it is AI music. Attribution is important. Also, like I said, I wouldn’t use AI to represent my heart, but again, I am lucky. I am a pianist. I am open to someone using AI music or lyrics to open up the possibilities of exploration for them as individuals. But it’s important to not forget where your food comes from. We have to do the work, whatever it is. I might use AI to create a drum loop for my real music, perhaps…..you can mix it up too. There’s a lot going on here. But the most important thing to ask yourself is why am I doing it this way? If it makes sense to you, go for it.
Maybe he won’t require that assistance moving forward. But that’s the trick of it. When you use something like that you have to humbly remind yourself of what is actually taking place.
There are a lot of people talking about creatives losing their skills because of AI, but if you keep in mind what you are doing and why, is it possible that sometimes it will enhance your experience? I mean it’s not all bad. We are pulling on previous works by other artists which could include ideas we would never have thought of on our own. If we use that as a crutch all the time, we will lose our muscle for it, but if we allow it to enhance our imagination, that’s another thing. It can feed inspiration. It’s just important to always remember what is YOU and what is THE TOOL and attribute the credit where credit is due.
I think how you talk about it is very important, also. I would always say “I prompted” this and that instead of “I made”. Those are two ENTIRELY different things. Being an excellent prompter of AI does not make you a great artist and being an excellent conversationalist with AI does not make you a great composer or musician. But a composer or musician can use the tool for things which help them along and a prompter of images can learn from those promptings and images to further their own art.
Also, I have learned a lot of LANGUAGE about art that I didn’t know before which helps me conceptually. The other day, I was painting leave “in Phyllotaxis” on my wall. That was something I learned from prompting AI.
So, hello again my beautiful friend! I love that you inspired your friend. I wouldn’t judge his process too much. You may need to temper your reaction which is a bummer…..haha. You want to go full bore like “WOW! THAT IS SUCH A GREAT SONG!” but you feel like you can’t. I get that part too.
But if this were my friend, I would just enjoy the end result and talk to him about everything that he had to do with it and those would be the things I focused on admiring. Who knows? Now he has all these feelings and words in his head. Maybe something will break free and he will invent purely on his own next time.
We need to remind ourselves to “DO THE WORK” when it is real work we are doing and “LET OURSELVES PLAY” when we just want to play.
I think there are different approaches to an end result.
Thank you for all of this, my beautiful sister!! I will respond in bits & pieces as I have somewhere to be shortly.
Bottom line: it’s very nuanced. Ha!
Staying connected to our “why” is a great practice for truly creating from Source.
I am happy for his expansion into creating a song, to any degree. I most certainly do not want to judge him for his individuality- it’s his to express, not mine. He has told me he’ll be reworking his lyrics so they are more “heartfelt”, so perhaps his initial use of AI unlocked this next step for him. Which is wonderful.
I live what you say about the images in your mind being enhanced via your creative collaborations. Perhaps, like all else- it’s just a mirror OF US!! And will reflect back what we project, and so on….
Either way, I do not fear it….Ill be back to write more.
Thank you again for taking your time to share your insides with me. Have a beautiful day, sister! 🤍✨🎶
You too, my love. Thanks for starting the conversation here. It's complicated. I am still thinking about it too. It helps me to try to communicate how I feel about it. PEACE!
Exactly!! Complicated. Best way to sort out what we believe about a thing is to think/talk it through. I appreciate all the help I’m getting here to refine my perspective. POP on, Sugar Pop!! 🥰
So much here, but to me it sounds like Johnny walked his own a** back into Folsom prison, right into his old familiar cell, locked himself up in it and while tossing the key back to the guard says "too hard out there, think I'll stay put." To me, AI's not another sign of the times. It's the latest opportunity among many to delude oneself into thinking that the resolution of anything that crosses your threshold of comfort into discomfort needs to be abandoned and fixed by some external "solution." Maybe this works for a time, but operating in this mode habitually will be sure to get you "locked up" in more ways than one - yet another voluntary dehumanization exercise.
Your post caught my eye because I've been a writer of lyrics my entire adult life - writing prose happened for me only because I crossed over that comfort threshold and lived to tell about it. Love your songs, your lyrics and your live performance clips - those are extra courageous, speaking of thresholds! :)
hahaha!! What a fantastic comment. I love that you worked in a super effective Johnny Cash reference!!
"yet another voluntary dehumanization exercise"
This is really the concern. Where is the line that ensures our use of tech serves/preserves our humanity?
"Your post caught my eye because I've been a writer of lyrics my entire adult life "
Incredible! Did you work with song-writers/singers? Or make your own?
"Love your songs, your lyrics and your live performance clips - those are extra courageous, speaking of thresholds! :)"
Thank you so much, James. I appreciate you listening!! I'll be resuming my live-streaming this week, actually, because it really keeps me on my edge. ;)
Thank you - to you’re question, yes, I write them myself - here’s an example of a human writing about technology vs.technology writing about a human - written 2014-15 AI was not much of a topic per se but the essence of the discussion is still evident. Demo - level recording of the song can be found at www.shocktroupe.com/music -
I'm old enough to remember when Photoshop blew up the world of photography and the magic that only a camera and the it's wielder could conjur. A friend and I went to a local photo exhibit where one of the categories was for specifically photoshopped (now a word in the dictionary) images. We critisized what we saw, and refused to call it photography...none of those images could possibly be created with just the human eye and manipulation of the 35mm camera's limited mechanics. Ergo, it wasn't real photography, it was a farce, an insult to the viewer, and ultimately a scam.
Several years later none of us dissect an image or care what tools were used to create it's final version. We appreciate (or not) the creation and take it at its face value. We assume to know the challenges the photographer took to bring his/her vision onto paper, and admire (or not) the ingenuity, courage and artistic innovation. Does my current response to AI assisted creativity mirror my archaic reaction to Photohop way back then? Does it make the final product any less than because the creator had assistance?
~
I often look up words in the Thesaurus to better capture what I'm trying to say but cannot due to my creative limitations and (for fuck sake) my memory. Is the Thesaurus an old-fashioned version of AI? Am I not inputing words into a search algorythm for a better suggested output? *I do in fact own an actual paper Thesaurus but looking it up on the world-wide webs is faster and yields a wider varitey of synonyms, phrases to use it in, and antonyms if I'm feeling contrary!* Am I cheating myself out of a creative challenge if I receive help from an algorythm to find the exact word(s) I need to add colour and depth to my written piece??
~
What makes creativty apprecited and valued?
Is it the soul searching it can originate from, or the soul's torture we may relate to?
Who does the creative piece need to affect, myself or its viewer/listener?
What if I don't give a damn how I end up with my final creative piece, and instead incorporate all the tools, programms and technologial assistance to end up with a soul-satifying relfection of my heart, and I AM creatively satiated??
~
I'm left with more questions than answers on AI assisted creatvity. I know when I find out that AI was used in a creative piece I resonate with, I feel deceived. But, is it because my definition of creativty hasn't caught up with the times or I find more value in the physical, mental and emotional interplay and what they bring about during the process of birthing a reflection of someone's heart ?
Thank you for your awesome thoughtful comment, Connie!
And thanks for leaving me with even more questions than I had before! 😂
" I feel deceived."
Similar to how I immediately felt disappointed that he hadn't written the lyrics himself.
I'm so willing to be the one who is old fashioned here, but my spidey senses are tingling that there is more to the AI/creativity issue than simply ever-evolving our tech into modern forms.
I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this. At the end of the day, it's utterly subjective and a personal creative choice. I'm certainly not in the business of telling anyone else how they have to think or create- I'm happy to mind my own! :)
I think there is a place in our lives that AI can help improve our condition. But here is where I am going to be a "jerk". I think we are misapplying the word "art" when discussing AI. (Of course I cannot stop this) To me, art implies a relationship between the creator and the created as well as between that relationship and the observer/reader et cetera. When a human sees "art" produced by another human , a painting, music, architecture.. the impression of the observer is subjective based upon the understanding of the creator-created relationship and how that resonates with them about themselves. This is what gives it depth and spirit. This is what AI cannot achieve, it only functions as an advanced mimicry of that process. A superficial simulacrum. We can see it, but there isn't any depth. It is inherently meaningless. It is in this same vein that AI cannot be programmed to understand beauty, because algorithms are objective and recognizing beauty is a subjective experience only capable of being experienced by flesh and blood humans. Same goes with "art".
If we turn over all of our creative endeavors to the machine we will find ourselves returning to the state of a mechanical animal, void the creative alchemical spark...and everything downstream of that.
Art is always up to interpretation, however, because of that, art can sometimes be literal nonsense.
There is a vagueness in art, which allows some things to *pass* as art.
I have a simple rule. It's not art if I can do it without trying.
The problem you have with the AI lyrics is a little different. You were using your music as a cathartic experience. Music is like talking to yourself, you can work things out that way.
Your neighbor had lyrics (describing his feelings) written by a computer. However, that doesn't mean that it's not "from the heart." AI is an expansion of the query you provide.
The question then becomes, what was the query? Did he ask, "AI, write me a song about divorce, sadness, and strife." Or, did he actually put most of his thoughts and emotions into the query, and have the computer organize it for him, more or less? 🤔
Thanks for your comment. It’s so true that art can be nonsense- especially Post Modernist ‘art’. Taping a banana to a wall is garbage. Michael Newberry writes about the deliberate degradation of art beautifully here on Substack.
I love your rule. And the questions you ask, once again highlighting the nuance of this exploration.
My current view is I will never use AI for anything, but I can’t stop others from using it.
AI is a heist. Would be nothing without all it has stolen from real, actual artists.
My son uses it. (He’s 12). He creates songs using it. I cannot bring myself to. Despise it. Each to their own but way I see it, every time someone uses it, they validate that theft. That’s my take anyway.
I hear you, Julie!! A heist. I LOVE that. Thank you for sharing your perspective on this.
I know I can't get around my own confirmation bias on this topic, and I'm willing to stretch my mind on this. But I can't get over the ick feeling it gives me.
I agree using a.i to write a song or paint or write poetry is not the same as something that comes directly from your heart and mind and soul. If you can't plum the depths as they say then wait until you can .
I feel the same way, Dave! But it's clear that many others don't share our view. I'm certainly not saying it's inherently good or bad, but do I wonder what that difference is?
We're passionate about music and art because when we grew up its all we had.
It is inherently bad. Period. It is satanic.
Thanks Klaus. I'm not religious so I don't believe in Satan. I do appreciate you sharing your perspective with me.
I am also not religious, zero.
But understanding these concepts helps to understand where these ill people want to take the world.
I tend to think it's a parasite.
something that cannot create on its own, and needs us as its servant.
And if you don't fight parasites, they win at the end — like cancer.
The A.I. system is learning from the Genuine and Authentic living Minds that imbue Creation with Imagination. That is our power in this experience to IMAGE IN our dream, our talent, our truth, our desire... the A.I. then uses these gifts of creation that we provide. So, when people employ the A.I. are they taking from all those creative minds that did the work?, that came before? That's kinda how I see it.
Those that wish to control us start by controlling our thoughts, manipulating our thoughts, and then stealing our Creative genius for their own means. For instance the Musician that must sign with a record company to have his songs heard far and wide, his Original work is now controlled by an authority other than himself.
This is what the A.I. is doing in my opinion, it is LEARNING from the TRUE CREATIVE BEINGS, that we ARE! I personally would rather develop my talent, then feed the A.I.
human potential, is truly Spiritual EXPRESSION... This is what the Machine is capturing. The A.I. needs us, we do NOT need it. just my humble (lol) opinion.
If we do not yet live in a simulacrum... it certainly is where we are headed, if we begin to rely on the Artificial construct to feed us our own talents.
So, to Julie's comment- it's a HEIST!!
I appreciate your thoughts, Kara. You're of the mind that AI is another tool for Wetiko to take over the creative gifts with which we've been endowed. It seems many are ready to hand them over without pause.
I think this is what causes me to feel off- the cavalier way in which many humans are so quickly embracing it rather than "develop our talent". We sure do readily open our mouths to swallow any administered pill that 'makes life easier'. To our detriment.
A future where nobody remembers to imagine at all....is not the world I'm imaging in!!
Mostly, I'm happy to just observe what unfolds. This particular instance hit me close to home. 🤍
the AI IS wetiko, the AI is the parasitic mind virus. The AI is mining our THOUGHTS, while trying as well to direct our thoughts, it learns from our REACTIONS.
IT is parasitical, and needs us to build it's world.
I am not this body.
I am AWARENESS within this avatar body.
Wonderful Jacqueline that's the best place to navigate this reality, in observance of it without reacting.
My feeling is that an awakened person is someone who knows he is not the character he is playing, but the one who is Quietly observing reality. The awakened person knows not to react to the world he witnesses but sees NOW, how to be the CREATOR of the world he wants to experience.
So, ultimately we have all been sharing with each other, through observing what others create, we are all learning from the gifts of others, but the whole point then is to not RE CREATE but rather to IMAGE IN your very own creation... This is the Mandelbrot set, this is the flower of life. The Never ending story of creation.
I love all you've written here, sister....and as we've discussed for hours at a time, we understand how to create our reality!!
It seems to me then that it's better to perceive AI as a neutral mirror that will reflect what we feed it. If you believe that it's parasitic, you will experience it that way.
If it's simply a mirror, and we determine how it operates, then there is nothing about it to fear.
"we have all been sharing with each other, through observing what others create, we are all learning from the gifts of others, but the whole point then is to not RE CREATE but rather to IMAGE IN your very own creation... "
YES, and this is true regarding AI, too. All is connected. As above, so below. 🤍
I love you AI assistance as a girl Friday. In the analogue world we all went to the library to be inspired by the things we learned. And then when Google came along The world was opened up to you with a click of a button, so you didn’t have to go to the library or buy books etc. Whatever inspires your imagination. I view when used greeting cards as inspiration for magical presentations.
Google has changed and it’s difficult to find real deep information. You were left with Reddit and Quora. which doesn’t excite me.
So AI assistance offers more, and used as a girl Friday I think it would only assist you in writing better, drawing better, etc.
Both YouTube and Amazon require users to post a notice when using AI generated work. Distinguishing real people from AI authors. I think that’s a good thing. medium has gone so far as to not allow monetization of AI assisted writing, and AI generated artwork must be labeled as so.
None of this is going away. My husband and I find ways to embrace it. Thank you, @Jacqueline! 💫💖
Thank you so much for your thoughts, Charlotte! 🤍
I agree that it has many useful applications and also that it isn't going away...it just may bifurcate humans onto different paths. Aaaaaand it might not!! hahaha! Who knows what the future holds?
It's using it for matters of the heart and soul that gives me pause.
I'd be curious to know if Randy would use AI to write lyrics for a song that was from the heart? Would you feel the difference if he did? Fascinating topic!!
We’ve talked about that, but he loves songwriting so using AI is counterintuitive to his process. Like for you. He said he’d use it as a tool to get concepts and ideas, but not actually write a song. Business owners requiring commercial work to write songs and jingles for advertisement could really use the application. Similar to producing their own graphics. In business , that makes sense to me.
What is uncomfortable for me is the idea generations following our footsteps into the future won’t know how to create? Will it eventually kill inspiration and talent?
I’ve used it for recipes! One time on Instagram I was looking for a recipe for cottage cheese - Greek yogurt cheesecake. I’ve searched Instagram before for quick recipes running in my feed with good success in finding them again. I typed in the cheesecake and instead of taking me to a video from a poster like I was expecting instead, it created a recipe for me. The cheesecake was excellent! I tried it again later for a casserole using vegetables I had in my refrigerator and to make the roux, it called for some ridiculous amount of flour… like about a quarter of a cup and only little liquid. What a mess that would have been! 🤣🤣🤣
What is uncomfortable for me is the idea generations following our footsteps into the future won’t know how to create? Will it eventually kill inspiration and talent?
Yes, it will. And that is intended.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply, Charlotte. :) Its nothing if not nuanced.
"What is uncomfortable for me is the idea generations following our footsteps into the future won’t know how to create? Will it eventually kill inspiration and talent?"
I hear this, definitely. I think there would be a split before it gets that bad, a la the movement towards more homesteading and home-schooling.
Never would have thought to use it for recipes! 💖
On this subject I will never find common ground with Charlotte. I love her texts, but the AI in them disturbs me deeply.
This speaks to my point about bifurcation. I personally don't see it as a reason to split into camps- but I like living in the grey, inside nuance. I'm careful to polarize pretty much anything!
Sometimes grey leads to nowhere ...
Where is there to go when it’s a matter of subjectivity and perspective?
I don’t believe there is anything to fear- just to grow our awareness and step into our creative agency. AI mirrors, as does the holographic world, what we are. So let’s be great. This is only my view. You are free to have yours, Klaus.
What AI in my posts are you referring?!? 🤔
Pictures like in this post: https://charlottependragon.substack.com/p/some-of-my-favorite-substacks-7-17 I like the old pictures, real pictures and art.
That’s actually a real photo taken by a real photographer. AI was used for enhancement. I love that tool for graphic design.
I understand, but for me AI is in every part not good. I also don't like photoshopping on Instagram etc. — I dislike everything fake.
Thank you for this post, it is a gift.
THANK YOU!
I have posted yesterday this note:
https://substack.com/@duell/note/c-68266043?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=8mqdm announcing that I cancel all paid subscriptions where AI is used. AI is satanic — the Church of Satan embraces AI for decades — and I cannot and will not support direct and indirect supporters of satanism. And everybody who now believes this approach is over the fence — please educate yourself about satanism.
I have left yesterday this comment with Stone Bryson, whose writing I like, but not his use and support of AI.
------------------------------------------
AI is satanic in the deepest sense of the word, and every sane human MUST stay away. Your explanation (excuse?) to spell-check and proofreading is simply wrong. Spell-check is a complete different story, it's about finding commas and periods, but it is neither creative nor artistic work.
And even if you step one step forward and refer to proofreading, you miss the point. Tools like Grammarly or LanguageTool can help you to proofread and replace a lector. But that is not comparable to pictures and videos and many other bad things done with AI. A lector provides suggestions which you accept or deny — that is a creative process. An AI picture is a ready piece of sh*t — you have done NOTHING beside the definition for the algorithm.
Furthermore, the above tools produce for a native speaker mainly junk. I have looked into them and saw that they are not comparable to a human lector. Lectors who use AI are simply incompetent — junk lectors.
Thank you for inspiring me to an answer which will be given in my German language podcast today and will be given tomorrow in English too.
------------------------------------------
Charlotte Pendragon writes: “None of this is going away.”
I cannot disagree more.
We will fight back!
Let us be the Robby Starbuck's against AI.
https://x.com/robbystarbuck
The same way we fought successful the woke DEI bullsh*t we will fight AI.
And let us support the real artists and creators.
I just signed the paid subscription here.
We real humans are more.
As you, I believe we are here to create, but it is a muscle that needs exercise, and if it's lacking in tone we are lesser for it. I saw a documentary film where an AI has already written every possible 8 bar melody that could ever be played, yet it seems inconsequential. David Bowie predicted music would become a utility, like water. It seems we are there, selling music has become exponentially more difficult. Live performance cannot be replicated, it is always unique for the audience and artist but is also now exponentially more difficult to monetize it. Since creating freeds the soul, it can have its own momentum.
Using AI to create seems like giving up
Thank you for your thoughtful comment! You make some really interesting points. What's the name of the doc? I'd like to check it out.
It is amazing to me that music is available for free everywhere and that it's getting rarer for people to own any hardcopies. Monetizing music has always been tricky when not wanting to swim in the mainstream and sell your soul by signing to a major label- no thanks!
There are creative people regenerating intimate avenues for performing, like hosting house concerts and such. I think people will realize how much they need it- hopefully before too late.
It's one of the oldest art-forms, after all. I remain hopeful. 🤍
I do not remember the film, like many things I've learned, it was posted in a comment here on SS at least a year ago or so. I'm hopeful for live music as well. There seems to be quite a bit of it around my rural area, and while people are open and sort of starved for new, original music, most of the paying gigs are playing covers in bars. Open mics are pretty well attended but do not really pay performers. It's tough, but it feels good to play and share with people.
I hear you. There is no substitute for playing for an audience- even if it is covers. It's medicine! I'm glad you have somewhere to play and share.
Great post Jacqueline. Sounds like a great neighbour. AI. Authentic imperfection. What is creativity? What is intelligence? I’ll live into these questions. It’s hard not to go to judgment. I try not to be righteous. I’m sure as writers we borrow ideas and themes from different experiences and influences. What we see and read does affect us. With that said I have no calling to use AI with writing. I want to struggle with the words. I want to bleed in the spaces around them. I want them to come through me. Waking me in the night and slapping me in the face. I want that process to swallow me whole. Even if it takes years. That’s poetry. That’s healing. That’s living. Your songs are poetry. I love all the different perspectives in this thread. It takes a village yet I love the taste of the pen more than the silicone process-er. Bless you 🙏❤️
Thanks so much, Jamie! He really is a great friend of a neighbour. :)
" AI. Authentic imperfection" ha!! LOVE that!!
" I want to struggle with the words. I want to bleed in the spaces around them. I want them to come through me. Waking me in the night and slapping me in the face. I want that process to swallow me whole. Even if it takes years. That’s poetry. That’s healing. That’s living. "
Yowzas...YES!!! Beautifully said, as is natural for you!
I think what Patrick says here really applies- it matters to us to craft our poems with heart and deep meaning. This is not shared by everyone who approaches writing. Perhaps this is really where the nuance lies. What matters to one does not matter to another. And that's all there is to know! Perhaps AI is just a neutral mirror that reflects what we project upon it.
As always.....we're left with lots of unanswered questions. I'm cool with that! Bless you back! 🙏✨🤍
I think it's awesome that you are so well aware of your resistance, emotions, and thoughts concerning this. Too many people would just, "I'm right, he's wrong," but you give it thought. I think that should be default for all of us, to think about things like this, and ask for input and listen to other sides. But since it doesn't seem to be that common, I wanted to say I appreciate it.
As for the question at hand, I believe in the law of attraction and that's going to heavily flavor my response. I think that we ask for solutions spiritually every time that we see or feel things that are unpleasant. I believe that when we ask for those solutions, the answers are given vibrationally. But we have to line up vibrationally with the feeling of having it. This, I believe, is why Christ said we had to have faith. If we don't have that high level of faith of an answer being provided, we won't be able to receive it.
I think we're at a point when enough people have limiting beliefs that they cannot write songs (or make art, etc) that we have manifested the AI technology to allow these people (who CAN align vibrationally with the finished product) to actually produce it in spite of their limiting beliefs that they (personally) can't do it.
I think AI is an answer to a prayer in a sense to these people. And, if you don't line up vibrationally with the end result, you will not be giving divine inspiration of the correct prompt, LLM program, and timing to enter that prompt.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this, Barbara.
I'm enjoying how varied the views are. :)
I tend to avoid polarizing issues- I'm more at home inside nuance.
It's a question of how much something matters to you. What matters to you, you do yourself. You do so that you can become better and skilled, so that you can become less dependent on other means of doing it - like AI.
I guess songwriting isn't something that matters enough to Johnny that he wants to do it. So he delegates. Overall, how one does something reveals how much they value it.
Technology should help, but shouldn't do. It's as you discuss it here, Jacqueline. If it does, one will never become good, and then they'll forever have to use AI as a result.
BINGO!! I think this is a key component. Thank you for expressing it so well, Patrick. :)
*claps hads* Well said Patrick! Creativity is steeped in subjective value.
Maybe this was not so much about an artist writing a song than about a neighbor and friend wanting to express himself somehow. Playing his guitar with some words he found, however he found them, and feeling them, however they sang in his system, seems touching to me. How many of us have gone through a painful something and found a song someone wrote that resonated and sang along…with feeling. And the music catalyzed something powerful and helped it move. Usually those kinds of sing-along moments are private. But he played his guitar and sang with his vocal cords something for you, his friend. And a talented musician friend at that. And then he was brave enough to say he didn’t write the words. Who cares. What did he feel? Can you hold him in that? Maybe this can be about something else than AI? XO
Thanks for your thoughts, Terra! Absolutely, I love that he is giving songwriting a go.
And yes, I will hold him however he shows up.
Funny enough, he's actually taking the time to rewrite the lyrics with his own words so they'll be more 'heartfelt". So I guess HE cares! He can feel the difference. Not everyone WILL care, as is evident by the variety of comments and viewpoints.
I think Patrick nailed it- using AI to make art will be based on what matters most to each of us.
Interesting times! Sending you love, sister. ✨🤍✨
That is so cool to hear that he is going beyond AI. I bet you inspired him through what you do. Great thoughts here. Somehow your response slipped through my notifications. But I came and found it. Big hug to you!
I so glad you came back and saw it! I’m proud of him for pushing himself to write- bottom line.
Thank you beauty!! Sending you a big hug back. 🤗
I know you already know this Jacqueline, I'm just answering because you asked for peoples opinions so I'm leaving mine in the void here - this is not aimed at anybody just a disclaimer!
My answer is NO - no matter the case, absolutely NOT. this is fucking ART. This is the expression of the human soul. Using AI to write lyrics is trading your soul to the machine for... what exactly I do not know. No will forever be my answer. If someone isn't where they want to be as a writer, as a lyricist, fill in the blank, guess what, no one ever was - until they were - and they had to get there by working at it. It's not just a talent it's a skill and craft, and it deserves respect. We evolve and grow with it, AI is robbery, mockery and demoralization of the entire evolutionary process of life itself, including us. There's my two cents haha.
Tess, thank you so much for your comment.
"Expression of the human soul". 🔥
Exactly.
Obviously, I feel very much the way you do.
Thing is (as I've already laid out here) the songwriting thing is SO close to me that I couldn't feel, see, hear, think about this subject without my bias interfering. I wanted to suss out whether my reaction was knee-jerk or not. I took it personally, but was that justified?
As you can see, there are many varying views on this. Some are afraid of the AI, some are neutral, some are ambivalent. Some can feel the clear distinction between using it as a helpful tool vs using it to make art of the heart. Some don't care to care about it all.
I'm enjoying the exploration as to WHY that is.
Interesting times, girlfriend!! 🤍🤍🤍
Yes indeed I understand and I don't think you're outta pocket for having that reaction, you being a creator of this artform does in some ways make you a guardian of it. i dont mean gate keeper but i do mean a natural protector for the simple fact that you both love and understand it, i think this is natural.
Regarding AI, i am very much in the "fuck no" camp - reasons for that extend far beyond art - none of us truly understand the implications of what this technology is, but we often forget that it is military technology and it was created for the purpose of automating society (and human beings) among other things. It is not our friend.
We can't make it disappear but we can't go quietly into that "good machine" either if that makes sense. I don't think using chatGPT to translate something from one language to another, or using an AI image generator is some horrible thing, but just like the rest of technology (say internet, social media, etc) its supposed to be a tool, not a substitution for human life, and unfortunately we see a lot more of the latter.
Much love to you dude. for reals.
I totally get the ‘fuck no’ view.
The ‘human with a soul’ me, the woman who loves her freedom me, is wary of anything that threatens to get in the way of that sovereignty.
Where I enter into more of a relaxed view about it all is due to my belief of the nature of this holographic realm we find ourselves existing in. I do believe it’s reflective, and our responses, reactions, actions, thoughts- you name it- all influence what takes shape, what comes next. I believe we are all both collectively and individually shaping our world. This is where I am careful to not feed a thing I fear. I use my gifts of focus, agency, imagination and creativity to feed the thing I want more of.
I say all this knowing not everyone shares my view of this reality. And I’m cool with that!
Sending you love, my musical sister!! 🤍
My comment is too long................since when is that a thing? Is this not a writing platform? SHEESH. I will have to find a new way to respond to you. I tried to repost with comment as well, and it won't let me....................working on it.
I cannot wait to hear your thoughts!! 🥰
I love that my name is still in your brain for any reason.
I understand what you mean. I don’t like taking shortcuts in art.
I love the magic of a poem rolling across the hill at you, or your heart bursting open so that you MUST WRITE THAT SONG or you MUST WRITE THAT POEM or you MUST PAINT THAT IMAGE.
I also love the mystery of starting something and not knowing where it is going. I would never throw that away. Sometimes an image EMERGES in a doodle I am making. You can’t do THAT with AI.
I would never think, “I need to write the most important song I have written this year” and then open up AI to help me.
I do prompt it (using Bing) to see what it will “make” out of curiosity (and for fun), but I have never considered that “my art”. My art is this mural that is taking forever to finish that I keep getting rained out from working on. It ruins a set of clothes, you get paint on yourself….that’s REAL 😊 Haha.
I think I may take my first shot at an afternoon paint instead of a morning paint, today. It depends on the weather. *eyeroll at the weather*
Using AI to come up with lyrics is much different than searching around in your feelings for the words.
But, having said that, You are steering the conversation. Also, I am SURE that your friend found that therapeutic. It’s not all the way there, but I am sure that was therapeutic in its own way. I will not begrudge a human anything that helps them when they are hurting.
One thing I have learned this year is to remain open to what is and to other people’s process.
So, it’s a complex subject.
Here’s the thing though, you have to be careful when you start taking too many “short cuts”.
Sitting on a lyric and waiting for the sky to part to help you find the words you need has its own value.
We shouldn’t take short cuts when it can be avoided. As artists we need to understand the light and shadow, the chord structure, the rhythm and pattern, what it’s like to work with other musicians, the value of a beautiful verse that “springs to mind” to solve your poetic quandary.
I personally want to open myself to “Source” while I create my real art.
But I am practiced at that. Who knows? Maybe using AI to have a conversation and get started is just opening a door to a new energetic confidence of sorts for some people. We need to work for those things because we are creators without AI and what comes to us could be considered divine. We don’t want to negate the power and the value in that.
I have learned a lot about art using the AI prompting tool. I would NEVER give up drawing or painting and I would NEVER point to the AI prompting and say “my art”; but it has changed my brain a little.
Not long ago I had a very incredible experience at the piano. I was going to write about it and I haven’t so I will just mention it here.
I was seeing VERY CLEAR IMAGES in my mind while I played (a song that I had never played, it was spontaneous invention) and as I was playing the images would change according to what I was playing.
I can still describe three of the images I saw in DETAIL that’s how clearly they were being presented to me with my eyes closed.
I believe that looking at AI prompted images of very complex things has added to what my mind will conjure.
An image reminiscent of AI imagery just popped into my head the other day. It was beautiful. Technically it came from my mind, but it was so much like what I AI puts out, I immediately recognized the influence.
I have seen things when I play music before. It is happening a lot more now. That could be due to my third eye opening and it could also be due to AI’s lingering impressions on me (or both). One image pops in and is clear and then it morphs into another while I play now. It’s incredible. I know I will never run out of ideas for my painting and drawing!
I don’t think people should “take a pill to lose weight”. They should lose it slowly by bringing the body back to health. I don’t think a musician should just have AI write a song to represent their heart. They should come by it organically. If they want to write a cool back track with it, or a song that’s fun for some purpose or whatever, that’s fine. But whatever steps you can take to keep yourself involved on every level of your being should be taken. We need to flex those muscles and know how to navigate that without any outside assistance. But if you are doing those things and you decide to “play with your new tools” to try new things , I don’t see a problem with it. Also, who is to say what this means to your friend? Maybe having to compile his ideas was the door that opened and he will experience more flow now.
Also, using the AI to make cool music that brings you peace is no big deal to me. If you are using the AI tools to make all your music and you state it as such, I don’t see a problem with that. It’s no different than making a cool building in Minecraft really. It’s just fun. I get it.
I am not interested in making AI music, but if I were I would do so and plainly state that it is AI music. Attribution is important. Also, like I said, I wouldn’t use AI to represent my heart, but again, I am lucky. I am a pianist. I am open to someone using AI music or lyrics to open up the possibilities of exploration for them as individuals. But it’s important to not forget where your food comes from. We have to do the work, whatever it is. I might use AI to create a drum loop for my real music, perhaps…..you can mix it up too. There’s a lot going on here. But the most important thing to ask yourself is why am I doing it this way? If it makes sense to you, go for it.
Maybe he won’t require that assistance moving forward. But that’s the trick of it. When you use something like that you have to humbly remind yourself of what is actually taking place.
There are a lot of people talking about creatives losing their skills because of AI, but if you keep in mind what you are doing and why, is it possible that sometimes it will enhance your experience? I mean it’s not all bad. We are pulling on previous works by other artists which could include ideas we would never have thought of on our own. If we use that as a crutch all the time, we will lose our muscle for it, but if we allow it to enhance our imagination, that’s another thing. It can feed inspiration. It’s just important to always remember what is YOU and what is THE TOOL and attribute the credit where credit is due.
I think how you talk about it is very important, also. I would always say “I prompted” this and that instead of “I made”. Those are two ENTIRELY different things. Being an excellent prompter of AI does not make you a great artist and being an excellent conversationalist with AI does not make you a great composer or musician. But a composer or musician can use the tool for things which help them along and a prompter of images can learn from those promptings and images to further their own art.
Also, I have learned a lot of LANGUAGE about art that I didn’t know before which helps me conceptually. The other day, I was painting leave “in Phyllotaxis” on my wall. That was something I learned from prompting AI.
So, hello again my beautiful friend! I love that you inspired your friend. I wouldn’t judge his process too much. You may need to temper your reaction which is a bummer…..haha. You want to go full bore like “WOW! THAT IS SUCH A GREAT SONG!” but you feel like you can’t. I get that part too.
But if this were my friend, I would just enjoy the end result and talk to him about everything that he had to do with it and those would be the things I focused on admiring. Who knows? Now he has all these feelings and words in his head. Maybe something will break free and he will invent purely on his own next time.
We need to remind ourselves to “DO THE WORK” when it is real work we are doing and “LET OURSELVES PLAY” when we just want to play.
I think there are different approaches to an end result.
Thank you for all of this, my beautiful sister!! I will respond in bits & pieces as I have somewhere to be shortly.
Bottom line: it’s very nuanced. Ha!
Staying connected to our “why” is a great practice for truly creating from Source.
I am happy for his expansion into creating a song, to any degree. I most certainly do not want to judge him for his individuality- it’s his to express, not mine. He has told me he’ll be reworking his lyrics so they are more “heartfelt”, so perhaps his initial use of AI unlocked this next step for him. Which is wonderful.
I live what you say about the images in your mind being enhanced via your creative collaborations. Perhaps, like all else- it’s just a mirror OF US!! And will reflect back what we project, and so on….
Either way, I do not fear it….Ill be back to write more.
Thank you again for taking your time to share your insides with me. Have a beautiful day, sister! 🤍✨🎶
You too, my love. Thanks for starting the conversation here. It's complicated. I am still thinking about it too. It helps me to try to communicate how I feel about it. PEACE!
Exactly!! Complicated. Best way to sort out what we believe about a thing is to think/talk it through. I appreciate all the help I’m getting here to refine my perspective. POP on, Sugar Pop!! 🥰
So much here, but to me it sounds like Johnny walked his own a** back into Folsom prison, right into his old familiar cell, locked himself up in it and while tossing the key back to the guard says "too hard out there, think I'll stay put." To me, AI's not another sign of the times. It's the latest opportunity among many to delude oneself into thinking that the resolution of anything that crosses your threshold of comfort into discomfort needs to be abandoned and fixed by some external "solution." Maybe this works for a time, but operating in this mode habitually will be sure to get you "locked up" in more ways than one - yet another voluntary dehumanization exercise.
Your post caught my eye because I've been a writer of lyrics my entire adult life - writing prose happened for me only because I crossed over that comfort threshold and lived to tell about it. Love your songs, your lyrics and your live performance clips - those are extra courageous, speaking of thresholds! :)
hahaha!! What a fantastic comment. I love that you worked in a super effective Johnny Cash reference!!
"yet another voluntary dehumanization exercise"
This is really the concern. Where is the line that ensures our use of tech serves/preserves our humanity?
"Your post caught my eye because I've been a writer of lyrics my entire adult life "
Incredible! Did you work with song-writers/singers? Or make your own?
"Love your songs, your lyrics and your live performance clips - those are extra courageous, speaking of thresholds! :)"
Thank you so much, James. I appreciate you listening!! I'll be resuming my live-streaming this week, actually, because it really keeps me on my edge. ;)
Thank you - to you’re question, yes, I write them myself - here’s an example of a human writing about technology vs.technology writing about a human - written 2014-15 AI was not much of a topic per se but the essence of the discussion is still evident. Demo - level recording of the song can be found at www.shocktroupe.com/music -
inspiring post you got going here!
I have a few thoughts without conclusions...
I'm old enough to remember when Photoshop blew up the world of photography and the magic that only a camera and the it's wielder could conjur. A friend and I went to a local photo exhibit where one of the categories was for specifically photoshopped (now a word in the dictionary) images. We critisized what we saw, and refused to call it photography...none of those images could possibly be created with just the human eye and manipulation of the 35mm camera's limited mechanics. Ergo, it wasn't real photography, it was a farce, an insult to the viewer, and ultimately a scam.
Several years later none of us dissect an image or care what tools were used to create it's final version. We appreciate (or not) the creation and take it at its face value. We assume to know the challenges the photographer took to bring his/her vision onto paper, and admire (or not) the ingenuity, courage and artistic innovation. Does my current response to AI assisted creativity mirror my archaic reaction to Photohop way back then? Does it make the final product any less than because the creator had assistance?
~
I often look up words in the Thesaurus to better capture what I'm trying to say but cannot due to my creative limitations and (for fuck sake) my memory. Is the Thesaurus an old-fashioned version of AI? Am I not inputing words into a search algorythm for a better suggested output? *I do in fact own an actual paper Thesaurus but looking it up on the world-wide webs is faster and yields a wider varitey of synonyms, phrases to use it in, and antonyms if I'm feeling contrary!* Am I cheating myself out of a creative challenge if I receive help from an algorythm to find the exact word(s) I need to add colour and depth to my written piece??
~
What makes creativty apprecited and valued?
Is it the soul searching it can originate from, or the soul's torture we may relate to?
Who does the creative piece need to affect, myself or its viewer/listener?
What if I don't give a damn how I end up with my final creative piece, and instead incorporate all the tools, programms and technologial assistance to end up with a soul-satifying relfection of my heart, and I AM creatively satiated??
~
I'm left with more questions than answers on AI assisted creatvity. I know when I find out that AI was used in a creative piece I resonate with, I feel deceived. But, is it because my definition of creativty hasn't caught up with the times or I find more value in the physical, mental and emotional interplay and what they bring about during the process of birthing a reflection of someone's heart ?
Thank you for your awesome thoughtful comment, Connie!
And thanks for leaving me with even more questions than I had before! 😂
" I feel deceived."
Similar to how I immediately felt disappointed that he hadn't written the lyrics himself.
I'm so willing to be the one who is old fashioned here, but my spidey senses are tingling that there is more to the AI/creativity issue than simply ever-evolving our tech into modern forms.
I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this. At the end of the day, it's utterly subjective and a personal creative choice. I'm certainly not in the business of telling anyone else how they have to think or create- I'm happy to mind my own! :)
I think there is a place in our lives that AI can help improve our condition. But here is where I am going to be a "jerk". I think we are misapplying the word "art" when discussing AI. (Of course I cannot stop this) To me, art implies a relationship between the creator and the created as well as between that relationship and the observer/reader et cetera. When a human sees "art" produced by another human , a painting, music, architecture.. the impression of the observer is subjective based upon the understanding of the creator-created relationship and how that resonates with them about themselves. This is what gives it depth and spirit. This is what AI cannot achieve, it only functions as an advanced mimicry of that process. A superficial simulacrum. We can see it, but there isn't any depth. It is inherently meaningless. It is in this same vein that AI cannot be programmed to understand beauty, because algorithms are objective and recognizing beauty is a subjective experience only capable of being experienced by flesh and blood humans. Same goes with "art".
If we turn over all of our creative endeavors to the machine we will find ourselves returning to the state of a mechanical animal, void the creative alchemical spark...and everything downstream of that.
Just my 2c
I really appreciate your thoughts on this Hugh. 😉
You speak beautifully to my exact concerns about it- voiding the creative spark and, worse, losing the ability to care or know the difference.
Art is always up to interpretation, however, because of that, art can sometimes be literal nonsense.
There is a vagueness in art, which allows some things to *pass* as art.
I have a simple rule. It's not art if I can do it without trying.
The problem you have with the AI lyrics is a little different. You were using your music as a cathartic experience. Music is like talking to yourself, you can work things out that way.
Your neighbor had lyrics (describing his feelings) written by a computer. However, that doesn't mean that it's not "from the heart." AI is an expansion of the query you provide.
The question then becomes, what was the query? Did he ask, "AI, write me a song about divorce, sadness, and strife." Or, did he actually put most of his thoughts and emotions into the query, and have the computer organize it for him, more or less? 🤔
Hey Ogre!
Thanks for your comment. It’s so true that art can be nonsense- especially Post Modernist ‘art’. Taping a banana to a wall is garbage. Michael Newberry writes about the deliberate degradation of art beautifully here on Substack.
I love your rule. And the questions you ask, once again highlighting the nuance of this exploration.
My current view is I will never use AI for anything, but I can’t stop others from using it.