AI made headlines last week, and not for good reasons. Among several triggers for the current SAG-AFTRA strike are valid concerns about the use of AI in the film industry. As Kim Masters, editor-at-large at The Hollywood Reporter said in a recent interview with NPR, “…no matter what member of the studio’s group…whether they’re a streamer like Netflix or not, the actors and the writers are very distrustful as to how they are going to use AI. They do not want to be replaced by AI. They do not want their images generated if they’re actors and used in a way they don’t want.”
I fully support the creatives who have chosen to strike. It’s no surprise that corporate greed would lead to abuses of AI. The use of AI to replace artists is antithetical to what Eliza G. Designs stands for. I will never attempt to generate designs in the style of a particular jewelry artist, though I recognize some “copycat” designs are inevitable. This is true regardless of whether AI is used.
Finding Inspiration
But I might generate something like “A jewelry set inspired by Van Gogh’s iris paintings.” More likely, my prompts will include specific materials I have on hand and want to use. This is not an attempt to circumvent the design process, but rather to enhance it. This image generated by the Van Gogh prompt is nonsensical, yet sparks a plethora of possible ideas. DALL-E seems to have developed a more sophisticated aesthetic since I asked it to envision The Most Beautiful Piece of Jewelry Ever Created, not quite one year ago.
Or maybe, I’ve gotten better at writing prompts.
Because I am a one-person operation and don’t have the budget to hire copy writers, photographers or models, I do everything on my own, in-house. AI has made this job tremendously easier, and I am grateful the technology is available. Plus, it’s fun. It has the capacity for endless creativity, and I want to tap into supply while “keeping it real.”
I enjoy writing, and I’m mostly pretty good at it, but sometimes I just don’t have the steam for one more Facebook post. I can say what I want to say, just not how I want to say it. With Chat GPT, I can quickly generate dozens, even hundreds of prompts that help ignite the creative process. I can analyze my own writing for weak points, and learn new things in the process.
Valuing Artists and Artistry
It is in this space, where humans and machines work together, that Eliza G. Designs operates. AI is an unimaginably powerful tool, and like any tool, it can be abused. It also has the potential to unleash human creativity in ways we have only begun to imagine. As consumers and creators, we must insist that AI is used ethically and sustainably. Artists deserve to profit from their works. Actors and models should control the rights to their own likenesses. And jewelry should be made by human hands.
