BUFFALO, NY — You may have heard a lot about artificial intelligence (or AI) lately. This program helps you write everything from emails to essays, and it’s becoming more and more popular to have programs that help your computer do a lot of the work to create amazing works of art.
One of our local artists and writers uses this technique, but still believes the human touch is important to make it happen.
“It’s different to see, and I think people can really appreciate it,” Micah Weber said.
Weber recently published his first book. It’s for kids and parents and is full of pictures of friendly, woolly animals.
“And I said, ‘Would you like a deer to wear a scarf for some reason?’ You can be totally random. There’s nothing stopping you,” Weber said. I was.
He created it with the help of his nine-year-old daughter.
“When I see my daughter’s eyes light up when I’m creating an image, if she likes it, other kids will like it,” said Weber.
With the help of his daughter, Weber used AI to create the photos.
“Anything is possible,” said Weber. “There are no limits. The only limits are your imagination and creativity.”
A born creative artist, Weber first dabbled in AI programs about nine months ago. The basic concept is that he enters words that describe the image he wants to see (some simple, some more technical). Then the AI works and spits out what he can handle.
“So when you put that image into Photoshop, something magical happens, reshaping it, adding text and letters,” says Weber.
Manipulate works created by AI according to its own standards. But it’s not always a perfect process.
“And it might make something quite different from what you want,” Weber said. I will get better.”
Most people can research how to use AI online, but Weber’s background as a photographer over the past two decades allows him to see AI through a different lens.
“[I] We kind of transferred those skills to the AI and just said, “Okay, what do you want this to look like?” How would you like to shape this and how would you like the lighting to be?” he said Weber.
He knows that some people worry that AI will take their jobs in the future.
But for Weber, AI is a powerful tool, an extension of his skills and vision, rather than doing all the work.
“I adapted and redirected the whole creative process,” said Weber. “I’m not giving up on photography because it’s my passion, but I’m embracing it and using it to my advantage, so if it wasn’t for that photography history, there’s a lot of things I would do with AI would have been impossible.”
Micah Weber’s book Yarn Animals: Scarf Portraits is available now on Amazon. He plans to use his own creative skills to create more publications to harness the power of AI.
