About

Hi, I’m Connor. Yes, this is my pen-name, not my real name, haha! Nevertheless, this is my online home to expand my creativity, engage my hobby and learn new things when it comes to the world of AI.

Do I see generative AI as a good or bad thing? Well, that’s a loaded question and it’s a difficult one to answer. Here’s my take on it with a good analogy. For centuries, artists used paint brushes and canvas to create beautiful images, whether it be portraits or landscapes… Until one day, along came the camera. I can assure you, the artistry world was just as fearful of the camera when it first came along, but it didn’t kill artistry, it spawned a whole new genre called photography. Then digital entered the mix and suddenly canvases changed from physical mediums to screens on tablets, laptops and PC’s and a whole new generation of artists was born. The wheels keep turning on technology and innovation, and it goes back as far as living memory will allow.

To get back to the question though, for me it’s simple. If AI is used as the tool to help create something, like a brush on canvas, where a human’s own creativity is the majority of the driving force behind what is being created, then I see it as a tool for good. If AI is being used to circumvent the artistry of others or copy the likeness of others, then, it’s a tool being used in a bad way. Essentially, no Author, Artist, Movie Star, Musician should ever be copied, or their works copied or their likeness or looks used in AI generation in any form. Furthermore, you can also extend that to any person, for that matter, living or deceased.

Likewise, randomly generated AI “Slop” that is mass produced and slowly overtaking social media feeds and video and audio sharing platforms in an effort to generate passive income is also not a positive use of AI and I understand, and to a degree support, Google (Youtube) considering demonetization of accounts if the majority of their content is almost solely AI Generated.

Where does that leave me? Well, I’m part of the new generation of “Artists”. Everything I’ve created has taken hours of reading, adjusting, tinkering and fussing to get right where I want it. Hundreds of hours of creation, waiting for images to generate, step by step, only to find out a person has 3 hands or a tongue hanging out of their ear or turning out like melted wax dolls from Madame Tussauds after a nasty fire in the wax room. You tell me that doesn’t sound every bit the traditional artist chasing illusive perfection on each of their unique works.

Why do I choose AI as my tool of choice, and not do it the traditional way? Easy. I have a very descriptive and imaginative mind, yet I fundamentally lack the talent and skill to turn that imagination into a masterpiece by traditional means. The best I can draw by hand is stick figures. The best I can sing is really awkward pub karaoke (and even then, I’m far too scared to sing) and reading music to play an instrument is literally a foreign language to me… But I can write, and I can write well.

This is my hobby, I am not a professional writer. I’m not published anywhere, I don’t have a manager, an agent or publicist managing my affairs. My writing is not perfect, it may not even be grammatically correct or structured like a professional author, but that’s me, that’s my style. It’s real and very much “Near enough, is good enough”, which is my life’s philosophy.