Painting, by numbers
THE WEEK India|December 25, 2022
AI-generated art has takers, but there are problems galore
ANIRUDH MADHAVAN
Painting, by numbers

Spencer Alden sued Nirvana in 2021. Alden was a baby when the band used a photo of him drifting in a pool, naked, as the cover of its 1991 album Nevermind.

The album blew up, made grunge mainstream and took Kurt Cobain to global superstardom.

Alden had recreated the picture for landmark anniversaries of the album, but later felt that Nirvana had indulged in “child abuse”. His case was thrown out.

Not that Nirvana ever had a fear of authority, but this minor legal hassle could have been avoided had DALL-E, Midjourney or Stable Diffusion been around. Cobain could have used these AI tools to create the album cover for Nevermind. He would have just needed the words “baby”, “drifting” and “pool”. But, given his distaste for anything inauthentic, he would probably have hated the technology.

Not everyone thinks like him, especially not in 2022. These free-to-use tools—which use artificial intelligence to generate art based on a few keywords—are having their moment in the sun. The question is: Will they burn conventional artists?

There have been artists who have used artificial intelligence to shape their vision, to add and subtract from it, to modify and polish it. But now, especially in 2022, there has been an explosion of AI generators that have made artists out of anyone with enough bandwidth and vocabulary. Midjourney, for instance, has more than two million active users.

This story is from the December 25, 2022 edition of THE WEEK India.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the December 25, 2022 edition of THE WEEK India.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM THE WEEK INDIAView All
William Dalrymple goes further back
THE WEEK India

William Dalrymple goes further back

Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 17, 2024
The bleat from the street
THE WEEK India

The bleat from the street

What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 17, 2024
Courage and conviction
THE WEEK India

Courage and conviction

Justice A.M. Ahmadi's biography by his granddaughter brings out behind-the-scenes tension in the Supreme Court as it dealt with the Babri Masjid demolition case

time-read
2 mins  |
November 17, 2024
EPIC ENTERPRISE
THE WEEK India

EPIC ENTERPRISE

Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus

time-read
4 mins  |
November 17, 2024
Upgrade your jeans
THE WEEK India

Upgrade your jeans

If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 17, 2024
Garden by the sea
THE WEEK India

Garden by the sea

When Kozhikode beach became a fertile ground for ideas with Manorama Hortus

time-read
4 mins  |
November 17, 2024
RECRUITERS SPEAK
THE WEEK India

RECRUITERS SPEAK

Industry requirements and selection criteria of management graduates

time-read
3 mins  |
November 17, 2024
MORAL COMPASS
THE WEEK India

MORAL COMPASS

The need to infuse ethics into India's MBA landscape

time-read
5 mins  |
November 17, 2024
B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH
THE WEEK India

B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH

INTERVIEW - Prof DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode

time-read
3 mins  |
November 17, 2024
COURSE CORRECTION
THE WEEK India

COURSE CORRECTION

India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI

time-read
8 mins  |
November 17, 2024