A lot of new developments have happened with AI art generation, so allow me to reiterate my policies concerning AI art.
I allow myself to incorporate AI-generated material into a project if I am giving way that particular project for free. So, for example:
- My blog posts.
- My posts on X or Facebook.
- My YouTube videos
Are all places where I may put AI-generated artworks, because those are things I give away for free.
I do not allow myself to incorporate AI-generated material into a project if the end result is a product I expect people to purchase. So, for example:
- My books.
- My audiobooks.
- My graphic novels (should they ever happen).
- My merch.
Are all things for which I either do the work myself or hire human help. My book covers and illustrations are all human-made. My audiobooks are human narrated.
However, there is one exception to this policy: feature-length motion pictures. Should AI technology ever progress to the point where you can feed a book to a computer and it will spit out a polished, Hollywood-style movie, I will seriously consider producing such movies and maybe even distribute them through channels that require payment.
The reason for this exception is twofold:
- The cost of producing such a movie is likely to be non-negligible. Some experts estimate that it will only cost $500k to produce an AI-generated movie. And while that cost is significantly smaller than making movies the old-fashioned way, I would still want it recouped.
- It appears that even the Hollywood establishment will be using AI to make movies in the future. And if that is the case, then the only way to compete will be to use the same methods. You don’t have to like it, but that’s the way the cookie is crumbling.
And recent developments have forced me to double down on this exception, as AI Video Generation tools are now publicly available. Midjourney now allows users to create videos, even. And I have to admit: the results are…impressive.
A 1000x Improvement
You might remember some previous artworks which I have highlighted on my X account, such as these two pieces where I asked Midjourney to draw my character, Advent 9, in the style of Michelangelo.
And I’m afraid even these are out of date, having flaws that the newest iterations of Midjourney would have corrected.
Well, here’s what they look like when animated:
And I’m afraid that whatever flaws still exist in the videos are explained by the fact that their template images were made in an older version of Midjourney. If I had used fresh images as starting points, the videos would look even better.
And, though I know many people will be unhappy to hear this, the level of technology we have right now is enough to allow any amateur to make a feature-length motion picture. I expect the first few of them to start rolling out any day now. The first of these will likely be available for free on YouTube, but within a few years we will be watching them through paid streaming services and, yes, even in theaters.
I’m Not Going to Fight this Future
I’m not.
I know some people would like me to. They wish everyone would take up arms against AI and fight it to the death. They do this in ignorance, not realizing that there is no way to stop this technology. Even if you somehow convinced the collected governments of the western world to prohibit this technology, some other country (China, probably) would the seize the advantage to become the number-one exporter of AI-generated content.
No one outside of China is going to take that deal.
So I’m not going to fight this battle. It’s a battle we would all lose. Instead, I’m going to adapt to this technology, incorporating it into anything I give away for free. I still appreciate the human touch for cover art and illustrations, and have no plans to stop using humans for art in the future.
But movies are a different arena. I want to make that clear.
So it may not be too long before you see Advent 9’s Hummingbirds brought to life, though they’ll probably look at lot better than this:
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