This week was full of twists and turns. It all started with the image you see above by Louis Servedio-Morales. Louis calls himself a digital creator, a refreshingly honest title in this day when few people agree on what art is. Louis is historically a photographer, much as I am. As life goes on we tend to focus on certain aspects of our craft. He says he performs a broad range of color management. I found this beautiful image and Louis through a Facebook group. This is a public group that lets its members post images they believe were inspired by Edward Hopper. Hence the name, “Inspired by….”
Many people in this group had a lot of were in an uproar with this particular image. What caused the uproar was that Louis created this image with one of the many digital tools commonly referred to as AI — aka artificial intelligence. This moniker is part of the problem. Few understand what is involved with using these tools. Consequently, they fear what they do not understand.
What people do not realize is that every time they take a picture with their cellular phone they are using AI to create that image. Every time they make adjustments to that image using their cellular phone, they are using AI. But now that software has become so advanced, many people are running away in fear of their world coming to end. People will hold on to their beliefs no matter the consequences. We see this same reaction all around us today, im the art world and the political world.
Just as in everyday life, this Facebook group is filled with those who will not condone any deviation from what they believe is an acceptable image. The word “inspired” has little meaning to the fundamentalists all too eager to condemn someone for the slightest heresy. These people are self-appointed police ensuring the purity of the group. Note: I stopped posting to this groupd because so many kept commenting that my works were not enough like Edward Hopper, thus they didn't belong there. I thought they were annoying.
When I contacted Louis Servedio-Morales about using his image in this article he rightfully called these people trolls. But with regards to the reaction to AI images, I will go a step further and call them bullies, because they will bully anyone who does not toe their line. This type of behavior exists everywhere today, not just in a Facebook group but all over the media. It is everywhere. No one is safe from these bullies. These purity police.
My own defiant attitude started when I read the Washington Post editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes' post from July 3, 2023, titled “AI: Art or not?” Of course she determined anything created using AI tools is not art, and went on to justify her opinion by saying that art is a culmination of life experiences and acquired skills. Only in this way can a true artist come away with an idea. So many people commented inn agreement to her article. The comments were filled with a legion of her admirers and AI haters. Little does she realize that the very computer she is working on is guiding her with AI.
In fact, everyone is working with AI — every day.
When Adobe released Photoshop in 1990 I was working on a film crew producing a short film. The backlash against Photoshop when it was introduced was incredible. Like so many other artists, I immediately adopted it because I was able to see how beneficial it could be for our project — saving us a ton of money. And it did.
Five years later, I was hired by a local college to teach Photoshop. By then most design firms were using computers and requiring some knowledge of the program. The designers who adopted Photoshop had thriving careers. For those who didn’t — well, who knows.
Why do I bring all of this up?
Because TikiKiti, in its position of promoting the music video, has decided to get behind all the artists, animators, musicians, producers, who are using this software. AI software is in a large part responsible for an explosion of creativity because it allows artists to create their own music videos at almost no cost. Because of this, the music video industry is experiencing a renaissance. Whenever I encounter a the fundamentalists mentioned above, I like to show this video created by Patrick Hanser for his band Bacará.
This is a groundbreaking, original video animation, released in the spring of 2023. When I interviewed Patrick about his work, he said it took him six months to produce this, using a variety of software and other tools — including existing video. No simple prompting here. This took vision, skill, and life experience few can appreciate.
Patrick is a young Brazilian artist. He is a director of photography and works as a camera operator for a production company. When we last spoke, he told me he was 26. I had to remember — here was a young man, who is fluent in three languages as well as helping to define the modern music video. He is also very eloquent and I decided he is perfectly capable of speaking for himself. When we discussed the controversy around AI art he said;
“Prompting is art. It’s hard to get the results you want. I did this frame by frame. Just the fact I chose each frame makes it more human. If you really put time into it — and have a vision — you can craft something that is amazing.” He continued by saying, “If it’s good—it’s good. Whether you spend ten minutes or ten years, if it touches me somehow, it doesn’t matter how it was done.”
Another animator and musician I interviewed is Paul Gibson from PaulG and the Invisible Twangonauts. He says, “I think of an AI art creator as a sort of miner, like a diamond miner," he says.
"The art is in there, it's all in the AI models which are just math equations [my italics]. Every possible combo exists—the models are just data sets of probabilities, and it is deterministic—you can use the same seed and same text and get the exact same image (like a Minecraft seed). So as an AI artist, what you are doing is mining that vast field of images and unlocking it. When I create an image, I feel like I'm dusting dirt off a gem buried in the earth. I didn't really make it. I just did some work to dig down and find what was always already there.”
Every animator has something to say about this controversy. Jorge Dugule (aka Optimoos) says, “When it comes to creating AI art, the artist is very much involved in every step of the process. It's a hands-on type of work where you input parameters at each stage. In essence, AI art is a product of human creativity. Think of it this way:
"When an artist uses a brush to paint on a canvas, is it the brush that created the painting, or is it the human artist guiding the brush? AI is like that brush; the artist directs it and instructs it on what to do. So, in the end, it's the artist who creates the art with the assistance of AI.”
Ultimately, this controversy over the use of AI software seems to be a generational issue. Those that hate it are usually older. Mostly those that use AI are younger — or more forgiving. But this is a generalization. Louis Servedio-Morales doesn't fit this demographic and neither do I (FYI, I am as old as dirt). The people that hate AI (haters?) fear what they don’t understand. They fear losing control. Acting like self-appointed police is their way of maintaining control over a situation that cannot be controlled. (Sound familiar?)
As long as TikiKiti watches and rates animated music videos created with AI software, we will continue to defend the use of these tools in the creation of the music video and any other artwork.
Now, after all this ranting, here are the Top-10 from October 15-21 — not all include AI art. But this week, most do.
1. From Poland — there are so many incredibly talented artists from Poland these days — we have Martyna's video to the song "Lost and Stray" by Amon Tobin (aka Figueroa). It seems she made this video to exorcise some of her demons — namely depression. This is an amazing production! All of us here are stunned by the production quality, the costumes, the camera work, and the editing. It's one of the best videos we have seen in a long time.
2. We have been following Hiatu for some time. From Poland, he is another in a group of animators we have been following because he tends to push the boundaries of the AI software. This stunning abstract to "Doubtless" is one of several very brilliant works he has done.
3. Here is Tavi Oshon doing "Roll Up." In case you're wondering, it's legal here.
4. I think this is another example of us falling for a commercial — albeit a very well done and elegant video. This is to Camila Cabellos' "Havana" ft. Young Thug. With Jennie doing the work for J.U Label. Another brilliant mix of AI and real life.
5. From Australia, we have this video from Shoot Me If You Can to "Individuals" by Whitey. One thing to take away from this brilliant video is, if you can't afford a crew, become a good editor. This is fun and very well-produced.
6. From WavFrame we have this stunning abstract video by Anvilease to their music "Sedentary." We call this abstract video but we can tell an amazing amount of work went into making this flow with a strong story.
7. In a more down-to-earth story we have Poss (or ImPossAbilities) animation about homelessness and life on the streets. No swathes of color here. Just the colors of the season and real life. All to the tune by Tom Woodward "Someone to See.
8. PluggingAI has Kanye West transcending into heaven with this animation of "Pure Souls." Amazing swathes of colors blending with what looks like clouds.
9. From the Netherlands we have Okwaro Beats and "Overthinking" in a very trippy AI video where a cat is a sound engineer. Labeled "World’s First AI-Generated Hip Hop Music Video," it makes me think I need a definitions of what hip-hop means here. Either way, great tune and fun animation.
10. This video has K-Blitz back with us. In "Track Meet" he mixes real life and AI — something we are seeing much more these days. Here K-Blitz creates a smooth world of both styles. A beautiful story with the music to match.
So here was a weeks worth of amazing videos done by artists with vision and determination. This is what it takes to create something beautiful. It seems that many who hate AI art have forgotten this. But, to paraphrase Patrick Hanser, if you like it and it makes you feel good, it is art.
