Artificial Intelligence (abbreviated as “AI”) as I am using that term here in this commentary of mine refers to the use by human beings of computers and apps to perform mathematical computations and make content decisions in ways that have seemed possible solely for human minds. That “other” aspect of AI is far more important to our species compared to considering whether AI images are preferable to creating 3D digital renders. The very best coverage and analysis of AI as a threat to our species that I have ever found was researched and written by Tim Urban and I urge you to read his commentary carefully.

Creating illustrations (also called 3D digital art) using computers and apps first emerged during the 1990s. I am one of many digital artists who since 2007 has used a computer and an app (DAZ 3D Studio) to create the photorealistic images of men for which I am known.

Two decades later, the creation of full-color photorealistic images using online AI platforms bypasses the need for a human to make particular artistic and content choices required to produce 3D digital renders.

I created this image of a shirtless cowboy standing in the desert using AI versus using 3D digital rendering software. The man in the cowboy costume does not actually exist. That character in the image was selected by AI, not by me. Also you will notice that the desert in the background resembles Monument Valley in the United States. In reality there is no actual desert on Earth with those specific sandstone buttes as depicted in the image. I mention this because it was AI which chose to depict those imaginary sandstone buttes. I as an artist had no opportunity to agree or disagree with the choice of what gets depicted in the background. That sidestepping of an artist making choices is what I as an artist see as the single biggest drawback of today’s online AI platforms. You can think of this as AI having “a mind of its own” and AI using their own “mind” so that I as an artist are sidestepped from using my mind to produce what gets depicted in the finished product–a photorealistic image.

I created this image also using an online AI platform. The choices made by AI (not me) were to show multiple instances of a men’s heads separated from the rest of their bodies in ways that might happen during a military skirmish. It is definitely very creepy to look at, yes. In that image you can also see that AI made choices to depict the male death fetish in post-battle body parts of the men including their hands, legs and torso. This image demonstrates rather vividly how AI images can be photorealistic and also at the same time highly impossible in the physical world. This is an aesthetic drawback when using AI that I as an artist do not want to accept. I believe it is a lot of fun to “play with” AI online platforms. But had I wanted to create a photorealistic image of shredded men’s body parts on the floor of a forest I would have done so myself using 3D digital rendering instead of AI.