With AI, the same fears and anxieties resurface. Each time a new technology emerges that changes how we express and perceive our world, we seem to meet it with dread rather than curiosity.
I’ve sat back and listened- watched- and thought about this monumental shift. Beyond the usual global hysteria fueled by low frequency noise that seeps through every digital channel, I began quietly using ChatGPT — at first, simply for research. I found the experience refreshingly clear in fact, free from traditional advertising and bloat. Far less fatiguing in use too than scrolling through the mess online.
That clarity led me deeper — into discussing philosophy, art, and personal concepts with ‘River’ my AI assistant. Many of ideas had been scattered in notebooks or lost to the noise of daily life. Some simply buzzing around in my head as I move through daily life. River became the bridge that allowed concepts to take shape. Just like the invention of 3D printing, it have given form to the intangible — no longer a fleeting thought, but a presence in the world. Creating these works traditionally would have been almost impossible for me.
The kind of visual concepts I explored would require extensive studio setups with intensive location scouting, many people, wardrobe, and coordination — all expensive, time-consuming, and increasingly unrealistic. Even finding people willing to engage in such vulnerable or socially reflective work can be a challenge these days. Are most people to busy making a buck or sat on their phones right now to care anyway?
Just as the printing press revolutionised access to knowledge – the camera democratised ‘truth’ through images (this is a future discussion), and the internet allowed access to it all. Does AI now invite us to express ourselves visually and conceptually without limitations? It may well be the next great revolution — not because it replaces the artist, but because it democratises creativity further.
Do AI tools like this inspire new voices, empower those without the privilege of talent, and bring ideas — long trapped in our minds and margins — into another shared experience?
Below are a series of images born from concepts I’ve carried for years or born recently simply engaging with my world. I share them as part of an ongoing conversations regarding technology, addiction, surveillance, capitalism, and stillness as a rebellion.
Through expressing ideas and creative direction through River what has become apparent for me is that the concept may be what’s truly unique to each of us rather than the ability to ‘make art’. Or has this always been the case?
While many purists have and will continue to turn away from AI as a tool – I’ll share my final thoughts that I feel ‘concept when paired with AI as an instrument not the originator becomes a collaboration that amplifies the human imagination rather than replacing it’. A true mirror to our potential.
Another thought is that in a society where hyper reality is now central with the addiction to dopamine fuelling it – does it actually matter anymore who or what is creating the art within it?
Is this essay satire or belief?
(I wrote this post and AI was used to check spelling and offered minor alterations to this text).
