of ai, part one.

Almost everyone is talking about or writing about AI these days, and in particular with regards to things like the arts the latest generation of artificial intelligence tools are creating a massive shockwave of speculation and curiosity.

This morning I watched a demo reel from a gaming engine company for their newest updates to an AI-based procedural scenery generator. A few numbers input into an editor and a second later the software creates a photo-realistic three dimensional environment with things like life-like trees, roads, insects, and atmospheric lighting.

Meanwhile, I spend hours with a pen, paint and some paper sketching something that almost looks like a proper tree with some smudgy blotches of colour.

While it’s tough not to feel incredibly inferior to a machine when that machine can outpace my artistic efforts in the blink of an eye, there is another (sometimes elusive) perspective that reminds me that there is much more to art than just perfect pixels.