new yorker magazine Cover
the power of computers and I present to you:
art?ificial intelligence
I decided my image should be of people sitting around a robot trying to paint. To me, that’s what using AI-generated images feels like: sitting and watching a robot present something it painted really quickly.
The thought here is, “What is art?” I think art is media that gets people talking and starts a dialogue. So, I wondered if I could create an image that would push the conversation of what counts as art. Is an image made by AI but tweaked by humans still art? Is it just shitty, lazy art? But what if that shitty, lazy art is fun to look at? What if it spawns a lot of conversation? What if you can interact with it and play with it? I don’t know. I’m just a guy.
Bask through all the embarrassing past versions of this cover here. These past versions include one where I had no idea what to do with this idea. I’ll also never forget the time I VERY embarrassingly confused The New Yorker with The New York Times.
One difference between humans and AI is that we still make mistakes sometimes.
Whoops.
SO I was prompted to make an image that would work as a cover for the New Yorker magazine. Admittedly, at the time, I knew nothing about the New Yorker besides the fact that it was a big deal and always had very artsy covers. This was a fun challenge for someone who isn’t a traditional artist.
So, what’s my idea here? I was thinking of art, and one of the first things that came to mind was the use of AI in today’s internet world. More importantly, I thought about the debate about whether using AI is a threat or an aid.
This led me to decide I would make my cover using AI and plenty of Photoshop to create an image I had in mind. (It took so much trial and error.)
