How do you tell when something is AI art?

[Reynard]

No, the real question was how do you tell whether something is AI?

That may be your question, but it ain't mine. Honestly, I'm not interested re-debating the ethics of AI art for the thousandth time (I'm comfortable with my position on that); I'm just asking how you tell.

Fair enough.

I think that while there are some tells others have discussed, even those won't last long. I don't think we will be able to tell the difference soon. It is already very difficult with certain kinds of work.

 

[Reynard]

I’d say when the “AI” gets good enough you won’t be able to tell. Then it becomes a philosophical question of what is “art” and can non-sentient beings produce it.

That would require the existence of non sentient beings producing art, which generative AI algorithms are not and are not even on the spectrum that would lead there.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Eventually, for sure. Maybe even soon. We aren't there yet though.

Maybe, I am not sure I could tell reliably right now.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I’d say when the “AI” gets good enough you won’t be able to tell. Then it becomes a philosophical question of what is “art” and can non-sentient beings produce it.

I would say that becomes a thing when the AI starts spontaneously producing art. As long as it is a mechanical response to a prompt or set of prompts the art originates with the human.

 

[Thourne]

There’s “artistic choice” and also there’s “art is really hard”. Errors don’t necessarily mean AI. Neither do things which don’t look right—nothing I draw looks right, but it isn’t AI. I just can’t draw.

Are you telling us you are secretly Frank Miller?

 

[overgeeked]

I would say that becomes a thing when the AI starts spontaneously producing art. As long as it is a mechanical response to a prompt or set of prompts the art originates with the human.

Oh, sure. I was more hedging my bets for non-human life out in the universe and their ability to create what we’d consider art more than suggesting current “AI” programs are in any way approaching sentience, etc.

 

[overgeeked]

Are you telling us you are secretly Frank Miller?

Definitely not considering the Eric’s grandma rule.

 

[Maxperson]

As @overgeeked already mentioned: one indicator is the telltale signs like too many fingers. Also, when experimenting with AI art myself, there were often problems with some elements appearing in slightly wrong places, but in ways I haven't seen too often in human art, e.g. a cigarette being placed a few centimeters below the mouth. And then there's often "spillover effects", where the eye colour you want ends up on all people in a scene.
But the most obvious sign for me is that images either have a sort of plastic look, or appear too noisy. I have seen how people avoid this with good prompts, and the software also seems to get better. Right now, though, this seems to affect a lot of the AI-generated art.

Can you tell the AI something like "I want a fairy sitting on a toadstool?" Then once the picture is done, fine tune with prompts like, "Widen the eyes a bit" and "I want the wings to be shaped like hawk wings instead of butterfly wings" and so on until the picture has met your mental image?

If you can, then art created like that would for me cross over from AI created to artist created via an AI tool. The ultimate piece of art is the artists vision, not whatever the AI decided to draw upon for the original picture.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Can you tell the AI something like "I want a fairy sitting on a toadstool?" Then once the picture is done, fine tune with prompts like, "Widen the eyes a bit" and "I want the wings to be shaped like hawk wings instead of butterfly wings" and so on until the picture has met your mental image?

If you can, then art created like that would for me cross over from AI created to artist created via an AI tool. The ultimate piece of art is the artists vision, not whatever the AI decided to draw upon for the original picture.

Yes, at least the bits I have played with.

 

[overgeeked]

Yes, at least the bits I have played with.

Wild. Not with the ones I’ve seen. It’s a fresh start each time. You have to refine the prompt and roll the dice. You can’t take an already generated image and iterate on it like that. What program are you using?