Spring 2024
It doesn’t feel right to post a blog without an image. But it feels extravagant to commission an artist for my portfolio (although I hope to, one day), so I’ve been using Midjourney to generate royalty-free images.
Now, I worry that AI-generated imagery feels cheap. I had fun experimenting with a new tool but I’ve decided to replace all the images with stills from films I love. Maybe I’ve been reading too much about AI, but it’s hard to get away from it.
The ill-fated Willy Wonka Experience from February is still fresh in my mind. People joked about how bad the original website was, with its uncanny, conceptual images and nonsensical copy, but the paying customers who took their kids to the event IRL weren’t laughing (in fact some of them called the police). The lesson? AI can help you come up with concepts but when it comes to executing them, you’re on your own.
Last week, I came across a piece on Refinery29 that appeared to have been written using AI. It was part of their regular Money Diary series, where readers share what they spend in a week. Before the piece was removed, commenters attributed the long, lofty sentences and formal tone to ChatGPT. The author said they had recently moved to the UK, so perhaps they used ChatGPT to overcome a language barrier? I think this is a great use of AI; the piece just needed a human editor before being published. Somehow it slipped through the net.
We all need to become more AI-savvy, fast. This Wired article about scammers using deepfake and AI technology isn’t an easy read, but it highlights the importance of educating ourselves and others about AI.
That’s why I really loved Dove’s new campaign. The opening prediction, that 90% of online content will be AI-generated by next year, is startling. I wonder if this will change as AI becomes more associated with scammers and criminal activity?
Coincidentally, the Dove film is soundtracked by a song from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Let’s hope we’re heading towards a future ‘of pure imagination’ as envisioned by Dove, and not by the creator of Wonkagate.