Midjourney AI

Out of context: Reply #146

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  • Nairn8

    I made a brand mark years back that was well-received, but the underpinnings were made from a bit of a stroke of luck, with a bit of painful modification to wrangle it into a finished state.

    The client's often wanted variants on it, but because i 'cheated' and got lucky and because I'm not actually an artist or illustrator, subsequent stabs were 'a bit' lacklustre. Said client then got a Well-Known Illustrator to do a variant for a sub-brand a few years back, which was much better than what I could come up with, but still missed the mark, I felt. It was nearly there.. but not quite. And this guy is GOOD. You probably know of him.

    I started taking this shit seriously a few weeks back when I played with some more marks in an AI Generator, using my original logo as a reference, and then throwing random variants at it. Frankly, what it then came back to me with stunned me. It's opened up a bit of a debate with my client, who had up until then derided AI generated works as 'shite'.

    I don't for one claim to own anything that comes out of these things, nor that I had the smarts to 'create' them per se - but I do know how much input, consideration and iteration I put into them to get something at least pretty-much what I wanted back out again. I also know enough about this to know that I cannot understand how it works, and I also cannot deride it as simply regurgitating artist's works. If you iterate enough, you see that deep in the bowels of that black box, it 'understands' the components enough to generate entirely new forms that - whilst based on existing artworks - are NOT those artworks. Yes, sometimes it does regurgitate things that look like they might be straight rips - but that's only (in my experience) from clumsy prompts, and then not iterations from those clumsy prompts.

    Remember - this is still very early days. Frankly, how far this shit has come in the last year alone astounds me.

    I spend most of my time tinkering with it, trying to get it to do things I think it can't, and after a while, it invariably gets there. The three images I posted at the top of this page aren't of themselves ground-breaking, but they were three examples that came about from my showing my partner this stuff, with me iterating something random like "skull of a penguin in a snowdrift under looming clouds" and then she wanted "black and white photo of young woman in 1950s Milan, with a hula hoop" - I mean, that's basically what it came back with (ok the penguin skull's borked, but I couldn't be bothered to use an image of a real one as an input), and I can't understand someone who isn't at least slightly floored by that.

    This shit is amazing, and we've barely even begun.

    • oops, sorry, long.Nairn
    • Yeah, this is it.robthelad
    • What I find most interesting about AI is it's ability to listen and understand, as you put it, more than the outcome itself.palimpsest
    • It can produce amazing stuff which is based on what's already been made in the past but it's the same case with what we make "on our own".palimpsest
    • What impresses me is not the jpg but the ability to listen, read, process and compile in a way that speaks to us.palimpsest
    • That was essentially what was going around my head when I was playing with this one last week.. :)
      https://imgz.org/i4J…
      Nairn
    • exactly, you design with your eyes, make music with your ears etc.kingsteven
    • Mmmm soylent green is delicious.... I mean it's amazing how tasty this stuff is. Hoe come no one else likes this as much as me?jonny_quest_lives
    • https://images.squar…Nairn
    • Evolve or die.

      Or, rather - evolve and die later, or just die.
      Nairn
    • Agency life of an Art Director 2027: The Client hated the last round here are your new prompts don't fuck up."jonny_quest_lives
    • "Evolve or die"as if the prompt "Ornate, 50mm photography, portrait photo and flowers. In the style of... " was a skilljonny_quest_lives
    • I too can sign up for the midjourney discord and rub my nipples at the majesty of what the algorithm spews forth.jonny_quest_lives
    • 'Evolve or die" that shits funny. I mean if we were all writing the code and taking and active part in creating a tools etc for the future I could get behind itjonny_quest_lives
    • A lot of this is open source - why not? Heck, give it 5 years and your code can generate itself on your behalf. It's coming for everyone who's not looking aheadNairn
    • This doesn't really affect me - I keep changing my craeer every decade or so anyway, 'cos I get bored innit?Nairn
    • Also. re: skills - how many jobs are there today that are truly 'skilled'?
      Shit's an argument decades out of date.
      Nairn
    • "Shits amazing" "https://www.tiktok...jonny_quest_lives
    • https://www.tiktok.c…jonny_quest_lives
    • Define "looking ahead" I mentioned it earlier Lensa AI set the floor price 50 renders $4 genie is out of the bottlejonny_quest_lives
    • There is no market for the outputs given you sit someone in front of the ui and paste in prompts and when the ai starts to out prompt the prompters"jonny_quest_lives
    • Machine can feed itself in a month or two and then it will just be an automated feed that the discord channel helped train.jonny_quest_lives
    • Huh, 'cos I'm working on selling stuff generated by it literally right now. I might fail utterly of course, but I see a market there.Nairn
    • If AI can do your job you should thank AI.palimpsest
    • The ai art market probably has a quick burn... probably like Ed Hardy shirts... everywhere all at once then regrets when looking through the closet.jonny_quest_lives
    • Lensa AI has 22.9 million users worldwide...jonny_quest_lives
    • Current pricing model: $3.99 – 50 unique avatars (5 variations of 10 styles)
      $5.99 – 100 unique avatars (10 variations of 10 styles)
      $7.99 – 200 unique avatars
      jonny_quest_lives
    • I've been at the front of a few phase shifts. One I missed out on was eCigs, thinking the market was saturated about 15 years ago. That was.. short-sighted.Nairn
    • I have three Discord accounts for Midjourney alone, so I'm not really sure what use a quantification of user numbers is.Nairn
    • https://midjourney.g…jonny_quest_lives
    • Three paid-for accounts, one with privacy.Nairn
    • (probably going to stop paying for my 'personal' one, mind)Nairn
    • I find it interesting that the corporate license section interesting it probably unlocks copyright protections they don't give their training user base.jonny_quest_lives
    • The lack of copyright protection for the plebiscite is pretty boilerplate especially since they are just fodder to train the ai.jonny_quest_lives
    • Just be interesting to see the midjourney sales team pitch to a company like Msoft or Disney...jonny_quest_lives
    • ***Plebes is damn mobilejonny_quest_lives
    • Nairn, sorry if I don’t follow you but are you saying you uploaded a rough draft or sketch and were able to get a good refined final version? Is that the flow?_niko
    • I’d love to see a video or a tutorial of you doing your thing :) this shit’s so fascinating_niko
    • No, I took an existing old logo that has a distinct [hard for me to replicate] style, and used it as a reference input to generate other things in that style.Nairn
    • @niko it has all the wonderous creativity of going to shutterstock and picking stock photos for a project. Enter prompts make selects request AI variationjonny_quest_lives
    • Or request larger res of a variation the Ai shit out for you. There's curattion/editing on your part but largely the Ai just shits our selects on promptsjonny_quest_lives
    • See below: "Ornate, 50mm photography, portrait photo and flowers. In the style of.."jonny_quest_lives
    • Ornate, 50mm photography, portrait photo and flowers.victoran, gothic, In the style of..jonny_quest_lives
    • @niko Less skill needed than doing a photoshop tutorial...https://y...jonny_quest_lives
    • https://youtu.be/4FL…jonny_quest_lives
    • Aye, and you can't do anything with Photoshop once you've mastered outer glow and drop shadow, amirite?Nairn
    • "tell me you've not looked much into this much without telling me you've looked into this much". But anyway, enjoy your bile, it's clearly nutritious to you.Nairn
    • @nairn the AI results are impressive but it's the model and algorithm you as a user aren't bringing anything other than helping refine the database results.jonny_quest_lives
    • @nairn What element of the Ai render do you claim as yours? You selected one of 6 outputs then hit refine?jonny_quest_lives
    • If we look at it from a stock asset pov change is coming as the results are too good it will be commonplace in the Industryjonny_quest_lives
    • But this prevalent I had a hand in creation cuz I photo edited machine outputs is the height of misplaced ego/id.jonny_quest_lives
    • Sounds a lot like the arguments against photography in the beginning. "The machine is doing all the work".palimpsest
    • At the end of the day a human types in prompts and is presented image options incredibly beautiful options at times.jonny_quest_lives
    • User selects option and posts it to their feed or this thread. It is not that far off from searching for shutterstock optionsjonny_quest_lives
    • If that analogy/comparison is seen as bile my apologies but illuminate as to what the differences are as I am not seeing it we distill itjonny_quest_lives
    • And you think there is no work behind searching for Shutterstock options and choosing them? I can't claim that work as my own?palimpsest
    • If I tell AI to draw a circle I will claim the whole output as my own, all 360° of it. AI didn't make the circle on it's own.palimpsest
    • The circle it makes is based on our collective concept of a circle which is the same concept I would use to draw it by hand.palimpsest
    • It could also be my workflow overview pov...it's just going to be another component in the sausage factory of advertising. We really can't touch it or implementjonny_quest_lives
    • Until our clients legal/pr have ok'd it as there could be pr concerns that arise from artists if say Disney/Marvel have an AI generated element that was trainedjonny_quest_lives
    • Using imagery without artist consent. So until the training models are vetted and or built from the ground up using internal client images it's a bit too earlyjonny_quest_lives
    • to even discuss at the agency level. Is change coming? Of course but what that change is won't be a workflow streamline revolution people envisionjonny_quest_lives
    • Clients have a funny way of requesting oddball revisions... legal departments have last minute legal requests... nothing I have seen AI do will change any of thjonny_quest_lives
    • The singular most profitable aspect of Advertising is client indecision. Does AI solve fix that? Nope.jonny_quest_lives
    • wat?!palimpsest
    • @palimpset "And you think there is no work behind searching for Shutterstock options" u curated and edited selectionsjonny_quest_lives
    • based on taste/mood u did not create your selections so yes going back to the analogy of being a photo editor no more no less....jonny_quest_lives
    • @palimpset did you light, photograph, cast the model for the shutterstock you selected? choose wardrobe?jonny_quest_lives
    • are good photo editors up to date on tastes and trends? yes. is it a skill yes. but that does not make the ai output yours other than you curated it.jonny_quest_lives
    • "The circle it makes is based on our collective concept of a circle which is the same concept I would use to draw it by hand."jonny_quest_lives
    • That's some chicken an egg shit right there shrodinger's cat... so the circle wouldn't exist without your input. not quite understanding your logic on thisjonny_quest_lives
    • "If I tell AI to draw a circle I will claim the whole output as my own, all 360° of it. AI didn't make the circle on it's own."jonny_quest_lives
    • "If I tell an artist to draw a circle I will claim the whole output as my own, all 360° of it. the Artist didn't create the circle on their own"jonny_quest_lives
    • @palimpset please read the midjourney terms of servicejonny_quest_lives
    • By using the Services, you grant to Midjourney, its successors, and assigns a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, sublicensable no-charge,"jonny_quest_lives
    • royalty-free, irrevocable copyright license to reproduce, prepare Derivative Works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute text, andjonny_quest_lives
    • and distribute text, and image prompts you input into the Services or Assets produced by the service at your direction.jonny_quest_lives
    • This license survives termination of this Agreement by any party, for any reason.jonny_quest_lives
    • what you own is the asset you selected based on your prompt inputsjonny_quest_lives
    • however:jonny_quest_lives
    • Please note: Midjourney is an open community which allows others to use and remix your images and prompts whenever they are posted in a public setting.jonny_quest_lives
    • OK, chief.palimpsest
    • by default, your images are publically viewable and remixable. As described above, you grant Midjourney a license to allow this.jonny_quest_lives
    • U got it champ!jonny_quest_lives
    • Not too late to start the Fuck Midjourney thread when they pull the rug on the user base that skipped the TOS... just sayin'jonny_quest_lives
    • So your overall complaint is that its not legally watertight for usage in advertising. in its current guise? Ok. I mean, that's a valid problem. I don't care.Nairn
    • fair enough i also don't really view it as personal artistic creation unless you loaded your own self curated AI Dataset with images you created yourselfjonny_quest_lives
    • whether they were your own drawings or photograohy... as long as the AI is bot crawling the image sets from the web that you had no part in creatingjonny_quest_lives
    • call it what you will but but don't be oblivious to every other user clicking rejecting/approving machine generated renders like youjonny_quest_lives
    • call it what you will but but don't be oblivious to every other user clicking rejecting/approving machine generated renders like youjonny_quest_lives
    • the machine doesn't artjonny_quest_lives
    • the results are too good to ignore and people will integrate this into their creative workflows it's inevitable but we have to face the reality of how we gotjonny_quest_lives
    • here AI programmers trawled the WEB and violated copyrights as well as IP to train their AI... and lawyers will eventually get involvedjonny_quest_lives
    • because Celebrities have Right of Publicity, Companies have IP rights as well as Copyrights for published imagery and any Text to Image AI generator that allowsjonny_quest_lives
    • users to render out imagery of Scarlett Johansson or any other celebrity likeness or Disney Characters on the fly will be sued to stop rendering those promptsjonny_quest_lives
    • we are in the oh shit this AI was much easier to train than we thought...jonny_quest_lives
    • it's a bit different if i pencil sketch Iron Man... Marvel won't legally destroy me.jonny_quest_lives
    • create and train an AI that can do it consistently for a global user base that delivers consistent results that dilute and or threatens your IP...jonny_quest_lives
    • are the happy accidents intriguing of course... are the renders below beautiful of course... but how much of the renders below can the midjourney AI user claimjonny_quest_lives
    • as theirs?jonny_quest_lives
    • what's the sweat equity breakdown of creation stage? was it 8 months of laborious coding and training to get the results below?jonny_quest_lives
    • you dismissed the video i posted earlier with the folowing ""tell me you've not looked much into this much without telling me you've looked into this much"."jonny_quest_lives
    • yet we've had people in this thread believe they retain copyrights... and i posted the earlier video as i was indicitave of the current midjourney user basejonny_quest_lives
    • and it was posted within the last 2 weeks so i felt it would show the tool in it's most current iterationjonny_quest_lives
    • if the user is over simplifying the process please point out where https://youtu.be/4FL…jonny_quest_lives
    • using haga's examples below as reference/basepoint. as they are stunning if this was a visual artist who trained the AI on his own codex of work of say 8 years.jonny_quest_lives
    • and created texture libraries on their own as well and loaded pose references and was running the AI all local with no cloud based open source inputsjonny_quest_lives
    • this would be a different conversation because we could then at least acknowledge that their was an artists hand involvedjonny_quest_lives
    • now let's say haga got a shitty render and 90% of what i see below is retouching /manual overpainting then that is a different conversation as welljonny_quest_lives
    • Claiming ownership? Did you even read my post? As for ownership within usage, well, I for one would be surprised if what I might sell could be back-tracked.Nairn
    • Besides, I'm not thinking some campaign using clumsy prompts that will be seen by millions. Almost the exact opposite.Nairn
    • I get it - it's not good for your industry in its current form, but you're just going around in circles in your own pond's perspective, but that is far from AllNairn
    • @Nairn u did nor claim ownership... palimpset suggested he would retain the copyright as he entered the prompts... the weird circle would not exist statementjonny_quest_lives
    • I don't think we are going in circles. I see potential just not how we got to the current state. I think to be commercially viable the training models have tojonny_quest_lives
    • Be rebuilt... midjourney needs to toss whatever is currently used to train the ai and purge anything not in the creative commons or public domain...jonny_quest_lives
    • Ethically sourced training models is the current phraseology being tossed around.jonny_quest_lives
    • Also it fair criticism if user 455 renders out a Batman in the style of Jim Lee to call it out as kinda shitty plagiarism.jonny_quest_lives
    • This guy summarizes it better than I https://www.techdirt…jonny_quest_lives
    • I mean the solution is elegant simple... the shit is jus software at the end of the day... remove the in the style of prompting without artist consentjonny_quest_lives
    • I.E. prompt Batman riding a rocket midjourney can simply not output it and give the followingjonny_quest_lives
    • Response "Batman is currently the IP of DC comics or just render out grotesque Bat man hybrids and not render shit that looks like DC's batmanjonny_quest_lives
    • Or...jonny_quest_lives
    • "In response to a complaint we received under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we have removed the ability to render for the requested promptjonny_quest_lives

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