🦉 Creative AI Digest - Issue #12

This is your favorite weekly newsletter about the intersection of AI and creativity. Only Creative AI Digest brings you a humorous and wise perspective from an artist who has a digital pet named, Artie Owl.

AI is a threat. That's the theme that has emerged in this issue. I get it. AI and the pace of its development are frightening, even for the most optimistic. However, efforts to fend off, stop, or reverse technology won't work. They never have.

The bitter pill we'll all have to swallow, myself included, is that LLMs like ChatGPT are already more creative than humans. People who deny this either haven't used ChatGPT, or they're doing it wrong.

So, humans no longer have a monopoly on idea generation or creativity. Are you going to learn how to use the tech to your advantage, or are you going to cry now?

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✨ Personal Update

I spent last week with my youngest daughter. We toured colleges in upstate New York and Boston. The schools we visited, which I believe are typical, completely ignored the AI question. I get it. AI is going to upend the centuries-old business model of education.

I told my daughter that I still believe the college experience will benefit her, provided the school can (a) give her practical experience instead of just listening to lectures, and (b) give her access to a network of alums and supporters who can help her find a job or start her own thing after she graduates. That's worth paying for, but honestly, that's about all that's worth paying for.

The "learning" part? Do you need a talking head in a lecture hall to "learn?" I'd say not, unless the talking head is one of the Talking Heads. Issue 10 callback!

🤖 Chatbot Showdown: Can Claude 2 Steal the AI Limelight?

Summary

• The key sauce to Claude 2's recipe lies in its dazzling ability to churn out summaries of up to 75,000 words. So, imagine pouring in a book-length document and asking for a one-pager; Claude 2 would gladly oblige, while his mate ChatGPT might balk at anything beyond 3,000 words.

• The launch of Claude 2 could revolutionize industries, change how we interact with technology, or even bring AI closer to passing the Bar (Claude 2 managed a score of 76.5% on the multiple-choice section).

My Take

I haven't used Claude 2 yet, but let me tell you, the prospect of it churning out and dissecting lengthy tomes has my interest. This is a huge step in the field of AI, particularly for generating and critically analyzing long-form content.

There's a lot of buzz about who's going to win the Large Language Model (LLM) race. But this isn't a track meet. I suspect we'll see a trend towards specialization rather than one-size-fits-all. Perhaps Claude 2 might be the literary muse for novelists? And let's not forget those charming "hallucinations." They might be a hiccup in factual accuracy, but for more creative tasks, they could be a treasure trove of out-of-the-box ideas.

🎨 Glaze Over It: The New Cloaking Device for Artists in the AI Era

Summary

• Autumn Beverly, a passionate Ohio-based artist, found her burgeoning career at stake when she discovered her art was being used to train AI models that could potentially replace her. It's a fear shared by many artists who feel they are feeding the beast while marketing their art online.

• Enter, Glaze, a freeware program developed by Ben Zhao's team at the University of Chicago, which tweaks images in a way that fools AI while being minimally visible to the human eye. This could serve as a protective cloak for artists in this digital age.

• Glaze has the power to preserve an artist's individual style, and could just be the start of an AI-artist arms race, according to some experts, and isn't a foolproof solution against potential copyright infringements or artistic theft.

My Take

Artists, particularly those with a substantial following, find themselves at the mercy of AI-based impersonation and harassment. While Glaze's promise to cloak artists' work against AI might seem like a silver bullet, it doesn't necessarily address the underlying issue. Essentially, Glaze is a reactive approach, and not a proactive solution, to the online harassment issue.

The tone and narrative of this article undeniably echo a "threat" versus "opportunity" mindset. Artists who are already apprehensive about the advent of AI will likely see developments like AI-trained art as a direct threat to their careers and creativity. This, however, may be limiting their vision and potential to leverage AI as a tool for artistic enhancement and creation.

Attempts at digital scrambling and encryption have historically been futile, just like Digital Rights Management (DRM) with ebooks. Instead of investing energy in trying to prevent AI from "learning" human creations, perhaps it's time to explore ways for humans to use AI to birth new, transformative works.

🎯 Prompt of the Week

🤖 Can't Beat'em? Join'em: AI Outsmarts Students in Creativity Test

Summary

• In a surprise twist, ChatGPT can outsmart 99% of college students on the Torrance Test for Creative Thinking, says a recent study.

• While the constant drumming of AI potentially stealing human jobs has given most of us cold feet, artistic and creative folks thought they could rest easy. But here's the shocker, those safe spaces might not be so safe after all.

• The AI scores high on fluency and originality - the 97th percentile - not too shabby. It even suggested we might need to rethink how we define and assess creativity.

My Take

We thought we were pitting AI against rote jobs, against our monotonous, robotic tasks. But we're at a point where we're not merely talking about cohabitating with AI; we're talking about engaging in a creativity duel with it. It's real and it's now.

And you know what this means, right? It's about challenging the very essence of what we've considered creativity. It's about dissecting our notions of originality, of novelty. Because AI isn't just mimicking us, it's playing our game and it's playing it well. This doesn't mean our doom, though.

We get to harness AI, use it as a tool, a companion, to redefine creativity. It's not just about surviving anymore, it's about thriving in this ever-evolving AI-powered creative landscape.

🎬 The Future Show Must Go On: IATSE Scripts its AI Strategy

Summary

• The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) is not exactly thrilled with the uninvited guest, sensing the potential upheaval it could wreak on their member's livelihoods. But, they're not backing down either, instead, they've buckled up to tackle this AI-powered rollercoaster with some sharp strategies.

• Their new "Core Principles" are quite the arsenal. They’re talking thorough research on how AI could impact the industry, partnering with external experts, ensuring their members aren’t left behind with skill-building opportunities, and taking steps to maintain workers' rights amidst the AI integration. The plan is to make AI a complementary tool, not a replacement.

My Take

AI is rapidly developing, often leaving humans struggling to keep up. The word "threat" is scribbled all over AI discussions, especially with labor unions like IATSE as they face the suspense-filled plot twist of technology's encroachment. But instead of panicking and hitting the emergency exit, IATSE is choosing to stay in the theater, putting together a plan to ensure they don't get written out of the script.

IATSE's strategy to develop a policy or set of guidelines for AI usage is a smart move. It's a nod to the realization that AI isn't just a sci-fi gimmick; it's an emerging reality that needs to be addressed. Yet, therein lies the rub. AI is that genius director who is always one step ahead, its rapid evolution often leaving our policy-making attempts in the dust.

🎴 Sweet-Ass Affirmations 3 // A Card Deck for Creative Maniacs

60 Bold, Unfiltered Affirmation Cards to Motivate Your Creative Maniac Mind! (for Oracle, Tarot, and Affirmation Lovers)

I’ve known Heath for years, and I can honestly say that his team at Rage Create does an incredible job with these fun affirmation decks. The Kickstarter has already blown past their goal, so you can back this project with confidence.

Check it out! 👇

Link: https://ragecreate3.kckb.st/71750609

♪ “Enter a text prompt to create your song.”

Check out my new song! I spent an entire 7 seconds working on it.

Call back to last issue: I don’t know how I feel about text-to-music AI. Sure, it’s easier and sounds decent. I guess it’ll pair perfectly with your bland PowerPoint presentations.

But this is the future of music generation whether we like it or not, and props to Splash Pro for making it idiot-proof.

Check it out! 👇

⭐ AI Superstar - Helen Todd

I recently discovered Helen’s podcast and absolutely love it. Not only does she have a “pro” voice and audio setup, but she’s nailed the intersection of AI and creativity.

Todd’s interview with Thomas Boenig (“Will A.I. Kill Photography?”) in season one, episode 10, is a fascinating conversation about the ways AI will forever change the art of photography.

🌐 Rando Disco

Random images from the Midjourney Discord server, #newbies channel.

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DISCLAIMERS:

I use AI tools to create this newsletter, including but not limited to ChatGPT, Midjourney, and DALLE-2. My wife thinks my I is A, but that’s another story.

This issue contains affiliate links. If you click on one and buy something, I get a small % from the seller. There’s no cost to you, and often, using an affiliate link gets you a discount.

Nothing in this newsletter should be considered financial advice, medical advice, marital advice, or advice of any kind. But we can still be friends.