Welcome to a slightly delayed PROCSSS. I usually release this newsletter once a month but this entry slipped a bit. On that note, let's dive right in...

Lately I've been thinking a lot about creativity in the "age of AI". The notion that an idea generated by automation is superior to one that a human being came up with is a widely accepted narrative in popular imagination. Every incremental refinement to the latest chatbot's image/video capabilities results in a steady stream of "_________ 's (graphic designers, filmakers, etc..) are COOKED!" posts, complete with the worst examples of AI slop imaginable as proof.

The "inevitability" argument that the tech industry and it's associated bots apply to the creative industry is tiresome. While some artists choose to use AI in their creative workflow (I don't, but do you), the idea that it provides an advantage over human creativity is simply not true.

Let's step back a minute and think about how we got here.

Almost immediately after AI chatbot's hit the market, their makers began touting their ability to generate images and video. In addition to the ethically dubious way AI models gained this capability (stealing), the question that many glossed over was "why"?

On the surface, giving the average person the capability to make images based on prompts seemed like a game changer. The idea that this ability made traditional creatives obsolete took hold and words like efficiency, speed, and productivity were used to support this view on art production in general. The problem is that framing the vastness of human creativity in business terms like this reduces the role of a creative to a product feature. But, it turns out there is more to it than that after all...

In reality, this concept only works IF you accept the framing and as an artist, you don't have to.

The truth is, the act of creating art of any kind is a messy, nonlinear process based on some combination of skill, life experience, and interpretation. As an artist, you can certainly choose to use AI tools in your practice but theres no reason to believe the result is any better than work that does not.

I'm not in a race to generate the most content, my aim is to create meaningful work.

You can't get "left behind by technology" if you aren't going to the same place.

True Topographics
Documentary Urban Landscape Photography

If you are a subscriber to this newsletter then you have already received the first entry in my new series, True Topographics.

It's a separate, visual newsletter where I will be sharing mostly new work with the occasional throwback images, focusing on gentrification and the physical landscape. The latest release is linked below:

Until next time friends...