Knowing WHEN to use AI is a necessary skill

14 April 2024 | Issue #43

In this issue:

Sometimes, AI isn't the answer
LLMs are amazing, but why?
When is content "good enough" to publish?
Adobe Firefly: create images based on your sketches
Easily edit images in ChatGPT
Secrets behind my process
I helped write a book!

Pink Floyd had their own fail whale recently

Knowing how to use AI is a useful skill. Knowing when to use AI can be even more important.

Recently, Pink Floyd ran a contest encouraging fans to make visualizations to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their landmark album, The Dark Side of the Moon. The video that was chosen for the song "Any Colour You Like" was clearly created with AI.

If you click through, you can see the comments are ... less than supportive of the idea of using AI for this.

Many people were wondering how a band as artistic as Pink Floyd could reward and promote "art" created by AI.

Pink Floyd was a band that lived in a surreal world. If you get the chance, I highly recommend Squaring the Circle, a documentary about the art/design studio Hipgnosis, the studio that created many memorable '70s album covers such as Dark Side of the Moon and Houses of the Holy. Last time I checked, it was streaming on Netflix.

In many ways, it's hard to believe that the band that was so focused on the art would want to outsource creation to AI. On the other hand, the band was always ready to experiment with new techniques.

This makes me think of the negative reaction Marvel Studios had when it used AI to create the video for the opening credits to Secret Invasion. There were plenty of problems with that series, and the open credits don't make the top 10. Because of the premise of the show, Marvel could have used the opening credits technique as a way to distinguish between what is real and what is fake. But it missed this opportunity.

In Pink Floyd's case, I don't think the noisy majority of the Internet is going to swear off consuming their content – like so-called "fans" did with Secret Invasion – but it's a bad look for Pink Floyd (For now, I'll avoid commentary on how bad fan contests like this are).

Using AI won't cause Pink Floyd's fans to abandon them, but it could turn off future fans. If any of the band members didn't know what cringe meant, now they do. 😬 🐖

NEWS AT THE INTERSECTION OF AI AND DESIGN

🤷🏼‍♂️ Large Language Models: Amazing But Nobody Knows Why

For designers, understanding the "how" and "why" behind tools can be just as crucial as their capabilities, making the enigmatic nature of large language models both fascinating and a bit daunting. They're groundbreaking, yet their inner workings remain largely a mystery.

Revolutionary AI: These models are transforming creative fields by providing new tools for design and content creation. But ...
Mysterious mechanics: Despite their widespread use, the exact reasons behind their effectiveness and decision-making processes remain unclear.

Keep reading

🔺 The Content Value Pyramid: When Is Content "Good Enough" to Publish?

For designers, the Content Value Pyramid serves as a guideline to ensure that the content they create or design for not only looks good but also holds substantial value and relevance for its intended audience.

Enhances design impact: Understand how content value enhances the visual and functional aspects of design.
Aligns with audience value: Learn to tailor content to meet and exceed audience expectations effectively.
h/t Rolf Mistelbacher

Keep reading

✏️ New Adobe ai Feature changes EVERYTHING. AGAIN.

Adobe Firefly now allows you to upload a sketch or photo and it will create finished imagery based on that design. There is a dialog box that asks if you own the image. When I uploaded an image with "iStock" in the file name, it still used it, so it's not great about sticking to licensed designs

Super easy to use
This will save so much time if you have an image that is close, but not exactly what you're looking for.
h/t Brian Piper

Watch training video

NEW RESOURCES FOR YOU

Easily edit your Dall-E images

A new feature in Dall-E is the ability to edit images. If you have a ChatGPT subscription, it's incredibly easy to generate an image, and then start selecting areas to be edited.

It's somewhat similar to Photoshop's generative fill capabilities, but so much better.

Through the process, I was able to create an image of a cat drinking a soda during the day, and change it to a drunk cat holding a beer at night.

You can also go back to earlier versions and edit those, They're all stored in the same chat conversation.

The crazy thing is it actually let me put readable text on the t-shirt!

I helped write a book!

I recently partnered with Joe Pulizzi (the guy who coined the term "Content Marketing") and 32 other marketers to write a book that outlines what a Content Entrepreneur needs to know to get started in their business.

I wrote the chapter on Branding!

If you want to learn more about the book, check out TheContentEntrepreneur.com