I think what get's me about the algorithmic stuff isn't that I don't like it. If somebody convinced me that a human actually made that, I would believe them, appreciate it, and start to read into it.
It's knowing that it's not made by a human that makes it look so ugly, because suddenly there's no connection to be made. There's no messanger from whom to read the message.
Just like with AI, one could argue that it's also the result of the programmer's efforts, and maybe the programmer should be considered the artist in this context.
I think a lot about what algorithms do to the human face. A number of online resources have popped up that generate new faces.
This person does not exist (https://thispersondoesnotexist.com/) creates plausible headshots of non-existent people—though often with unnerving, warped artifacts in the background. It's apparently meant as a tech demo?
Generated photos (https://generated.photos/) creates stock photos of human faces for advertising. You can order up the face you want by sorting for age, gender, and race. It seems like the more-polished, monetized cousin to This person does not exist. I find it creepy, though of course using stock photos for advertising is already sort of creepy. It seems a little perverse that some company can decide they want, say, a young black woman's associated with their product, and then order up an original, AI-generated black woman for this purpose. Is that better or worse than paying for the image of a real person who has no idea what products her face is going to be attached to?
Finally, artbreeder (https://www.artbreeder.com/) allows users to mash up various artworks and tweak the way the algorithm remixes them. Faces are a big part of it. I wondered if this would be an interesting tool for generating character art for RPGs. I feel pretty ambivalent, however. There's lots of dials to mess around with, but faces end up defaulting towards a samey, airbrushed "sexy" look, like that's what we've taught the algorithm we all want to look like. I've made a couple distinctive faces I like using the site, but I still find it unsettling.
Very interesting! Yesterday, I listened to a discussion of the original style transfer paper. It will be interesting to hear what people think about it from a less mathy perspective.
I think what get's me about the algorithmic stuff isn't that I don't like it. If somebody convinced me that a human actually made that, I would believe them, appreciate it, and start to read into it.
It's knowing that it's not made by a human that makes it look so ugly, because suddenly there's no connection to be made. There's no messanger from whom to read the message.
Just like with AI, one could argue that it's also the result of the programmer's efforts, and maybe the programmer should be considered the artist in this context.
I think a lot about what algorithms do to the human face. A number of online resources have popped up that generate new faces.
This person does not exist (https://thispersondoesnotexist.com/) creates plausible headshots of non-existent people—though often with unnerving, warped artifacts in the background. It's apparently meant as a tech demo?
Generated photos (https://generated.photos/) creates stock photos of human faces for advertising. You can order up the face you want by sorting for age, gender, and race. It seems like the more-polished, monetized cousin to This person does not exist. I find it creepy, though of course using stock photos for advertising is already sort of creepy. It seems a little perverse that some company can decide they want, say, a young black woman's associated with their product, and then order up an original, AI-generated black woman for this purpose. Is that better or worse than paying for the image of a real person who has no idea what products her face is going to be attached to?
Finally, artbreeder (https://www.artbreeder.com/) allows users to mash up various artworks and tweak the way the algorithm remixes them. Faces are a big part of it. I wondered if this would be an interesting tool for generating character art for RPGs. I feel pretty ambivalent, however. There's lots of dials to mess around with, but faces end up defaulting towards a samey, airbrushed "sexy" look, like that's what we've taught the algorithm we all want to look like. I've made a couple distinctive faces I like using the site, but I still find it unsettling.
Do others also find these sites creepy?
Very interesting! Yesterday, I listened to a discussion of the original style transfer paper. It will be interesting to hear what people think about it from a less mathy perspective.