IS THE FUTURE OF AI.....PEOPLE?

As a runner up at an AI competition in Las Vegas, my bet is solid yes.

I made it to the final eight. The judge read out two words randomly picked from suggestions by an audience of over 400 people, packed into the Hyper X Arena at Las Vegas’ Luxor Hotel & Casino. The two words? “Punk Paradise.”

This was round two of the first-ever “AI Filmmaking Mega Party,” an eSports-style competition. The rules were straightforward: prompt the AI program, Leonardo.ai, to illustrate those words, without using them directly. My opponent and I, Los Angeles writer Jagger Waters, had exactly one minute.

I had been practicing, particularly the drawing part of the competition in round one, which was text and drawing to image. I wasn’t the best—that honor went to a guy named Will who really made a coffee cup look like a singing coffee cup, even before the AI did its thing. But I was good enough to advance. (My winning round one image featured a moose saving some white-water rafters).

Round two was solely text to image. The task: create a “Punk Paradise” without mentioning "punk" or "paradise." I began typing:

“Rock n’ Roll band, playing on a cloud….”

I looked at my screen. Not bad. A generic-looking band hovered about 30,000 feet up. “The hair!” my new friend and coach Ryan, who had been part of my “Blue Team” in round one, reminded me. He was out, but we all kept coaching each other. “Right!” I said. With 25 seconds left, I typed some more: “…with spiky hair,” I added.

The crowd let out an audible “oooooh!” I stopped. I even said it out loud: “I’m done!” I glanced over at Jagger’s screen; she was still typing. With Leonardo.ai, every new word modifies the image, and hers were changing fast. But I didn’t see a guitar or a “punk” hairstyle. “I’ve got this! I’m in the final four!” I thought.

“One of the judges cried out, “Ten seconds!” Jagger’s images kept changing... “5, 4, 3…” Suddenly, a beautiful young boy with a blue mohawk, a colorful shirt, an electric guitar, and what looked like the perfect Hawaiian beach landed on her screen. The crowd gasped. “Woah!”

I lost. I was out. My chance at winning the Apple Vision Pro offered by the event’s sponsors, Curious Refuge (one of the best AI filmmaking YouTube channels), was gone. But then, something unexpected happened. For the next round, Ryan and I asked if we could keep coaching our former teammates. Caleb, the host, said, “Why not?” James, another former Blue team member, was up against Jagger next. It was a bit confusing, but we tried to help them both.

Why did we do that after we'd lost?

I'm not entirely sure. But despite the competitive edge of the night and the ersatz nature of AI "image making" (not to mention that it was taking place in the most ersatz city on the planet), the event ignited something very real in me and my fellow competitors/teammates: creative collaboration.

There’s a debate currently going on in the creative world, especially concerning generative AI. Acknowledging the concerns about artists being compensated for their work is important. Yet the potential for these tools in creative hands is immense and unpredictable. What’s the balance?

As I said in my previous blog, the ways in which creative individuals choose to engage, create, and innovate with these new programs are both uncharted and unforeseen. Like sampling in the early days of hip-hop, in the right hands, we might witness the birth of a new art form.

In fact, if I were a betting man (I played the slots for ten minutes during the three days I was there, ending up 50 bucks ahead for the first time I can remember), I’d say the odds are better than those in any casino that human beings—competing, sharing, cooperating, and inspiring each other—will push these new tools to new heights.

I could be wrong. AI might turn us all into paperclips. (A real theory. Look it up). Until then I’m gonna’ continue to be inspired by and work with other creative people as much as possible.

It’s a really interesting time to be alive.

- Barney Miller, April, 2024
PS - Congrats Jagger!

(Photos by various people including Dave Clark, Jagger Waters & Fred G.)