For this mosaic, I want to talk a little about AI (artificial intelligence) and how it relates to “My Mind’s Eye”. I am a techie, but even I am getting a little disturbed about the constant presence of AI in my life. Maybe the most disturbing thing is AI is that it is becoming more and more dominant as the days and months go by. I realize that this is new stuff that will eventually settle down to some established state, but right now it just seems too pervasive.

Some say that AI will replace artists, but, I kind of have a different view of the matter.

Yes, there are now apps that can mimic those of past artists. I used one of those apps on the mosaic above to give my photograph of a Galena Illinois street a Van Gogh-ish type flavor. I had an image in my mind’s eye of what I wanted it to look like. The morphing app did a pretty good job of meeting my expectations.

That got me to thinking, is AI just another tool in the artist’s palette? In the old days, meaning 600 years ago, the only way to produce what was in the artist mind’s eye was pigmented oils of various hues. It turns out that many of those pigments proved to be very toxic, and I imagine, caused premature death for the artist. Then about 150 years ago someone invented photographs. That technology was adamantly resisted by the artists of the day, but now is considered an art form of its own. Will AI enhancement of photos eventually prove to be the same. I kinda think so.

To me, art is something that simply fulfills what the mind’s eye sees.

Does it matter if that is done with messy toxic paint of AI based apps? But, getting to the crux of the matter, AI is not a creative process, but instead it just mimics other’s creativity. So, I don’t think the analog artist is threatened that much.