Take a moment to move past the #AI art debate
Platforms such as Midjourney and DALL-E are allowing people to connect and be seen in new, wonderful ways
For now, put the debate about the ethics of AI-generated art aside. Move past the warnings that artificial intelligence will destroy human creativity (it won’t).
Instead, take a moment to recognize the incredible opportunities AI-art is giving ordinary folks to express themselves artistically.
They’re people like Floyd Kelly who regularly shares his Midjourney creations on Post.news. Floyd, who leads a solitary life in the mountains of the U.S. Pacific Northwest, uses AI-art to connect with people all over the world.
“I'm excited to be working with AI systems; it's only been a few months for me, and I use this new technology to help me with living in isolation,” Floyd told me. “I live alone with my dog and have so for many years. I think these A.I. systems can help others like me who are creative and do not have the ability to express themselves.”
In particular, he likes using Midjourney in conjunction with ChatGPT to create poems and stories, exploring themes ranging from aging and loneliness to fantasy and random word plays. He also shares some of the techniques he uses to create his images.
Floyd politely declined an invitation to chat on video about his work, saying he’s “not good on Zoom calls with strangers.” Instead, we exchanged a few emails to talk about how he got involved with AI-art and what he hopes to get out of it.
He loves the beauty of living in the northwest – the mountains, trees, lakes and rivers “enriches my soul every day.” He settled there after living all over, working as an IT specialist in Houston, New York and Los Angeles.
We don’t get into his background too much but he points me to a post he wrote that describes an awful childhood filled with horrific abuse.
He introduces himself in the post this way: “I'm retired, a senior-citizen, longtime illness survivor, almost passed away on 3 occasions. I have been alone for many years and nobody else is here. It can be weeks before I make contact with another person. Currently, I call myself an A.I. enthusiast and the technology allows me to be creative and pass the time. I have never owned a house and I have never owned a new car. I am a simple person and many people in-real-life pass me by.”
It would be wrong to say that Floyd wasn’t a creative person before he discovered AI. Indeed, he composed music and kept up various blogs.
Then in the fall, he read an article about AI-art generators and eventually found his way to Midjourney. He was hooked after his first image.
Like so many others, Floyd has found a way to express himself through generative art. Since he picked it up, by his own count, he has generated more than 12,000 images.
“As for my ideas in creating, I don't do gore, I don't do violence, I don't do pop culture, I don't do logos or anything infringing on copyrights/trademarks, I don't do memes, I don't do horror or evil,” Floyd wrote. “That's a lot of ‘I don't dos,’ and that's okay because there is still a ton of ideas to grab onto for entertaining people, sparking curiosity and perhaps making a person feel better for the day.”
One of the things that bothers a lot of “traditional” artists is that some random person with no drawing or painting skill can use AI to create stunning, evocative images. The AI-artist didn’t put in the years of work, didn’t make life sacrifices, didn’t really do anything other than enter a string of text.
I get it. As someone who has built a photography community and organized photo festivals, I’ve met some very talented and experienced photographers who have looked down at “hobbyists.”
As a professional writer, I remember rolling my eyes at “amateur” bloggers when they started to proliferate in the early 2000s.
Here we are again as technological advances continue to democratize new fields of art and literature.
While we debate whether AI art is good or bad, whether it’s actually “art” and what it portends to the future of certain creative fields, there are plenty of people out there who are using AI to make connections, finding joy in expressing themselves creatively and just being seen.
As for Floyd, he’ll “just keep doing what I'm doing, creating, sharing and, perhaps, along the way, I'll touch a soul or two in a good way.”
You can find Floyd on Post @floydkelly.
You can follow Joe Newman on Instagram at @most_sublime_media.
Thank you for the write-up, Mr. Newman. Your efforts changed my day for the better! Have a great day/evening!