Main Course of the Week#
Introduction#
Will painters like Van Gogh be replaced by AI?
This is a question I was invited to answer on Zhihu. I was halfway through writing the answer when I thought it would be nice to include it as a blog post in my blog column. I plan to write some more of my own thoughts.
First of all, let me state the conclusion: Van Gogh will undoubtedly not be replaced.
When we talk about painters of "that level," well... honestly, I don't know what level that refers to. And as an art creator myself, I don't think it can be simply classified like that. But that doesn't stop me from continuing to think.
Van Gogh, well-known to all. Nowadays, there is probably no one alive who has seen him. So when we talk about his level, what are we referring to?
Everything we know about him is attributed to the records of this historical figure. Those are other people's comments on him, some written below his works, some published independently.
So the so-called "level" we are talking about is an evaluation based on reputation, influence, authoritative comments, collective memory, and the influence of the times, which is a kind of side impression of this person based on external factors.
I think this kind of evaluation is not accurate. Let's slow down our thinking and not rush to judgment.
Painters are humans first, AI is machines first.#
The biggest difference, and also the most obvious difference, between humans and machines is that machines don't know fear, while humans do.
This question itself is a question that only humans would ask, and the root cause is the fear of being replaced that arises from deep within.
And machines don't even know what fear means. They will only bring you the definition of fear and even comfort you, but machines currently do not experience the feeling of fear.
Thoughts, Experience, Becoming#
Before creating, a painter first has a motive, or more accurately, a trigger. After all the conditions are met, they naturally start to draw. And maybe they have been preparing for this work for a long time. If they want to express an idea, raise a question through this work, they may even have to have had firsthand experience of it. They may even feel that a two-dimensional plane is not enough to carry them.
But a machine only needs one command, then it searches for the meaning of that command in the database, and then decides how to translate it into the color of each pixel. It works tirelessly.
During the creative process, a painter is filled with various emotions. These emotions may more or less affect the strength of their strokes, the saturation of colors, the tension of composition, and so on. The whole process is filled with fragmented, unpredictable, objective and subjective factors. In the end, the painter feels, "It's enough, it's sufficient, it's finished." And the work takes on its final form.
But the machine is emotionless mathematical calculation during the creative process. The generated image is essentially a string of 0s and 1s.
The path of human creation is to generate thoughts/motives, and then naturally produce actions. In this process, they gain experience through creation, and finally recognize themselves as the creators through the completion of the work.
Indeed, the manipulator behind the machine is also a human, and the result is also a painting. But the only missing link is the "experience through action" process. This is the biggest feeling I had when I tried to create with AI. I don't acknowledge that the image was created by me.
It's like, originally I held the brush in my hand, but when using AI, I handed over even the hand holding the brush to it, leaving only the hand typing on the keyboard.
Fragments of Creation#
Recently, I've been busy designing an engagement ring for my girlfriend. She doesn't want a diamond ring, she thinks it's more meaningful for me to design it myself. I chose gold with a moonstone as the material.
I also made a video on Bilibili to document the process.
【一枚订婚戒的自我修养】- 记录一下_哔哩哔哩_bilibili
I actually don't know much about jewelry design, but fortunately, I can still carve a model. I also learned a lot about making rings from the craftsmen at the jewelry store because they were curious about my different software. So I told them a lot of my techniques, and in the end, the boss gave me a 40% discount.
Yesterday, I went to the store to see the setting and the other details, and it looked good. My girlfriend also really likes it.
Weekly Highlight#
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This week, I recommend a book I've been reading recently called Dialogues with the Divine. It mentions the idea of thoughts - experience - becoming. If you're interested, you can take a look.
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In terms of interior design style, Matthew Encina is a Youtuber I really like. He also started with CG and can be considered an idol in the professional field. This is the project he is currently working on.