#i just saw the linked version and i HAD TO

[thewadapan]

I do recommend people take this test, it's a riot.

But like, it's not a study. (The site linked above appears to be yet another waste-of-space Amazon-affiliate-advertising content aggregator grift, which talks a big game about Creative Commons but why would I want to repurpose any of this material in the first place? The only original content I can see here is obviously-AI-generated thumbnails for the art, which look like dogshit. The original results post for the test is a much better read.)

The way the test is designed is like this. Images were roughly balanced by art style: so of all the digital-art pieces, 50% are human, 50% are AI, same for the renaissance paintings, same for the impressionist stuff, same for abstract. Except, obviously, the human pictures have been selected to exhibit stereotypical signs of AI-ness: overdetail, odd scaling, incorrect proportions, random meaningless shapes, illegible text. Meanwhile, the AI stuff has been filtered to avoid anything that had obvious tells to a layman's eye, like fucked-up hands or whatever.

So it's basically a game of like... whatever your gut instinct tells you the image's provenance is, it's probably the opposite.

When you filter out the human works, and look at the provenance of solely the AI pictures (as given in the results post), that's when you find out what this test is actually indicative of. The pieces were mostly generated by two ACX readers, Ryan Wise and Jack Galler. I remember spotting every single one of Ryan's images, without fail. Meanwhile, nearly all of Jack's images fooled me. (There were also a handful of other AI images taken from social media or whatever, which again, I easily pegged as being AI-generated, they're pure slop.)

I'll actually go so far as to say that it's pretty embarrassing for Ryan that he thought these images were good enough to share. Wall-eyed figures whose clothes blend into flesh, abstract shapes with eerily-lifelike inhuman faces leering out of the picture, inconsistent details... but most of all, a sense that the prompts themselves were bereft of any creativity. "robot skeleton abstract painting", "woman in field impressionist". Come on man. AI is the ultimate tool for ideas-guys, and yet here you are without a single idea to show for yourself.

Ryan was apparently using StableDiffusion. Meanwhile, here's Jack talking about his process:

I just used Midjourney. Most of the prompts were just describing some generic impressionist scene. I've never had an art history class (but I am an art history fan!), so I worked with ChatGPT to identify key trends of say, Impressionism, so I could prompt better. I generated a lot of each one ,and just used my subjective opinion to decide what looked good and what didn't. The Paris Scene (which fooled the most people) had this prompt: "Impressionist painting of a bustling Parisian street under the soft rain, 1881" The Riverside Cafe (which people liked the most) had this prompt: "Impressionist painting of a countryside café terrace during twilight, 1883"

It seems that specifying a year in particular was what helped Midjourney hone in on these historical styles in a convincing way. Jack's method obviously involved a huge amount of cherry-picking—which I would argue is another huge element of human intervention, if only in a sense of curation. A version of this test I would like to see would be one where both different AI models and a range of talented artists were given the same prompt. What if it was one-shot, with just a single generation, no cherry-picking? Except of course an AI can generate thousands of paintings in the time it takes a human to do just one, so what would that even prove?

This test reminded me of a piece I saw on deviantART a long time ago, of this ruined fantasy castle in a cave. Pretty cool! But then you look at it a bit longer, and it's like- hang on, why is that human skull the size of the collapsed turret lying next to it? It's exactly the kind of nonsensical composition you see in AI, except no, it's just a digital artist using photoshop and they fucked it. I kind of feel like this is where the state-of-the-art of AI image generation is right now; about as good as a guy bashing together stock assets in photoshop, which is to say maybe good enough to get an idea across, even if it can't actually stand on its own two legs as a piece of art.

So yeah, from a cynical perspective, I'd find it hard to argue that Jack's generations aren't "good enough" for many applications. I don't know that I'd hang any of them in a gallery. The longer I look at them, the less I like them. But they've got the right vibes.

So a more accurate headline for that BOING BOING article might be, "AI art haters unknowingly prefer AI-generated works by Jack Galler, according to test".

If there's one thing I'll be taking away from this post, that's helped me better understand my own feelings on AI art, it's this analogy from digital artist Ilzo, quoted in the results analysis:

Imagine if everyone got the ability to create mostly nutritional adequate meals for like five cents, but they all were mediocre rehydrated powder with way too much sucralose or artificial grape flavor or such. And your friends start inviting you over to dinner parties way more often because it's so easy to deal with food now, but practically every time, they serve you sucralose protein shake. (Maybe they do so because they were used to almost never eating food? This isn't a perfect analogy.) Furthermore, imagine people calling this the future of food and saying chefs are obsolete. You'd probably be like "wow, I'm happy that you have easy access to food you enjoy, and it is convenient for me to use sometimes, but this is kind of driving me crazy".

Last month, over 11,000 people took Astral Codex Ten's survey to see if they could they tell the difference between 50 human-made art and AI-generated images. The results were humbling for humans, especially ones who professed a loathing for AI art.

Most participants stumbled through the test, scoring just 60% — barely better than flipping a coin. What tripped them up? Our preconceptions about art styles, it turns out, are deeply ingrained. When people saw classic Impressionist paintings, they confidently declared them human-made (and were often wrong). When they encountered digital art, they quickly labeled it as AI (and were frequently mistaken).

Perhaps the most ironic finding was about people who claimed to despise AI art. When these AI critics picked their favorite pieces without knowing their origin, they consistently chose AI-generated works. Even among those who rated their hatred of AI art at maximum levels, their top two favorite pieces were created by machines.

[yellowbrickramble]

Here's an earlier version of Emerald City. Oscar Diggs had a the wall built because, of course, he's terrified of the wicked witches. The wall will be build taller, the city will expand over the years, and a lot of green paint will be used to eventually resemble the version we saw in chapter seven:

--but of course I also had to redesign the castle because I already redesigned it in chapter nine:

I'll probably redraw the castle bit of the city in chapter 7 to match before I publish the book.

The castle is also way too big in the far shot of the city, but that's just a purposeful abstraction because it looks good.

If you like my comics, please support me on Patreon! (link in bio)

[heytheredeann]

let dead dogs lie - silas denver melvin (insp.)

[velvetwyrme]

MORE TITAN AU!!! of the cityspeaker rodimus variety <3

extra context for these:

this is inspired by the concept of the city/internals of Megatron changing colour in response to heat- something Rodimus has plenty of! (as mentioned in asks here and here)

in this AU Megatron rarely speaks to/acknowledges his cityspeakers, so Rodimus is trying to get a rise out of him the entire time :]

majority of the dialogue is by @callsign-relic whos blog this au lives on! the first section of dialogue is from one of the first titan au posts :]

check out the #titan au tag over on Relic's blog for more Thoughts about this au and its many offshoots!!

[clubsmarties]

"Me, jealous?" Wally smiled making his eyes twinkle. "Maybe a little bit." All said in a teasing tone. "I do love that you're so loved. I'd happily put down my golden son crown for you." His smile widened as she mentioned family as her own. "You're right. It is what our family does. It'll be fun. Maybe we'll get lucky and you'll get to do the library one. Bat your pretty eyes at my Ma. That'll do it."

Being called out made him smirk and shrugged. "You love it though. Don't pretend." A chuckle fell from his lips as he licked his lips and scratched his scruff. "This reminds me of our conversation about ghosts. Just because you can't see them doesn't mean they're not real. Same with our adventure book. Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it's not in the works and real. Patience, my love. We've gone on a few adventures since we started so it takes time and you know I don't do anything half assed."

It never ceased to amaze him at how far she'd come, they'd come since they first met. If only past him knew this was where they'd head, past Wally would have never believed it. From an arm twist away from broken to making a life with the person who made his heart and soul sing. "Mm. I'd take the twist of the arm all over again too. That was our version of meet cute." Now he was being facetious. "Wouldn't be us if things weren't flipped upside down." His head nodded as he watched her go and smirked. "Time starts now." His finger tapped the watch on his wrist but wasn't really keeping time.

As he stayed by the counter to wait for their order, he saw the tip box to his side and decided to put in a few extra bucks. He'd never be one to leave a place or establishment without putting in a tip. He knew most people didn't but he had the means to leave more so he always took it. He let his mind wander back to work for a brief moment, but as quick as it came, it left. He could at least get away from work for a few days, taking this leave of absence would do him good. He wasn't gonna beat Karina at her own game the way it was going. In the middle of the crowd he became his introverted self. Quiet and off to the public. His eyes caught sight of his girlfriend coming back with a bag and smiled knowing that she'd found some books. "God, your smile." he whispered it slowly as he felt their arms link. "What came home with us?" His eyes went to the now put away book bag, curiosity winning him over. "That was record time. They should put that in the Guinness World record." Shaking his head he smiled and excitement sparked in his sparkly emeralds. "No, but now we have to go the elf village. Let's go I want to go. Have you been?"

Sighing, she shook her head at the teasing. While she knew that his family loved her, she still felt a need to prove it in ways she could. She knew it was unnecessary, his mother had even told her so herself. But there would always be a part of her that wanted to feel like it was earned. That their love was deserved. It was something she'd keep working at but that was an issue for another day. “Someone sounds a little jealous.” The sing song tone that she said the words showed that it was just a joke. "If someone needs help, I'll help, its what family does, right?" It was still strange to consider his family as hers but they had become it.

"You're so dramatic." She chuckled about his assessment of her drink choice. Hazel took him in for a moment, wanting to say something about the stress he had been under but decided to let it go. "Muffin sounds nice." Giving him a smile, she raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You know you’ve mentioned this adventure book for so long, I have yet to see it. I’m starting to think, it simply does not exist.”

Clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth and rolling her eyes, she always found herself doing that when he'd bring up things that she once would never do. Only to find herself doing those things with him. "Yeah. yeah." She said with a hint of laughter in her tone as they made their way up to order. "In all honesty I guess that's been the normal since meeting you. Flipping everything I know upside down." Placing their orders and making their way over to the side to wait for their order, she kissed his cheek. "I'll be back I'll be in and out promise," she said as made her way to the store.

Inside, she walked past all the snacks and straight to what she wanted, the novel in the window that she had intended to read but something kept coming up. She would be able to read it now, no interruptions while on the long plane ride. There was something about being able to buy books and keeping them that filled her with a glee that she didn't think was possible. Having always traveling, she never bothered to buy them for keeps. Each time she had picked one up, she knew she'd have to donate it once she was done with it since she didn't have a home. Didn't have a place to collect the things that meant something to her because she would need to leave. Not anymore.

With a smile, she made her way to the register to pay for it when something else caught her eye. An self of journals. Some with planes setting off, other with quotes from books she had read before (the ever famous lord of the rings one about wandering was prominent), but she found one, it almost resembled her fathers. Leather cover, small clasp on the front. Thinking about why this trip was about in the first place made her buy it with her book, it was time she started a new one for the new life, the new adventure that she was embarking on this time.

Making her way back to him with a wide smile on her face, taking the sight of him in. Her heart beat a bit faster, she was excited for it, nervous at the same time. "See, record time." Placing the bag with her purchases in her backpack before taking her coffee and linking her arm back into his. "Have I told you that there is a little elf village we could visit?" Part of her wanting him to like her birth place as much she had come to love it.

[emry-stars-art]

I could say I wasn’t thinking about @0l-unreliable ‘s cowboy andreil the whole time I was drawing this but my friends know I would be lying

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

Do you ever just lay down and think about how Twilight Princess was THIS close to continuing it's narrative involving great power corrupting people (sometimes against their own will) by having it start happen to Link the way it does to the main bosses (Yeta as Blizzeta and Darbus as Fyrus as prime examples) and then

And then it doesn't happen probably because of what it would do for the image to outright show the hero being corrupted by dark power

[swallowedabug]

We Are Lady Parts : Music From Seasons 1 & 2 (2024)

[sittingoverheredreaming]

I made this post about changing ToTK's story to (in part) have Sonia and Rauru be Link's ancestors before I saw the Ancient Hero's Aspect and now that I got it in the game can I just say. What the fuck. Clearly the hero of the Calamity legend was part Zonai, the aspect pretty closely matches the tapestry, so WHY is Zelda their descendant instead of Link?? The princess in the tapestry is visually indistinct from any Hylian Zelda, clearly she was not part Zonai while the hero was, and yet?? The royal family are supposed to be the ones with Zonai blood??

[hecksupremechips]

Hypothetically should I play p3 reload with the femc mod like does anyone know if it’s good? It certainly LOOKS good but I wanna know if it’s essentially just portable with good visuals or if it’s reload but with kotone instead cuz if it’s the latter I am not interested

[maraschinotopped]

tried my hand at drawing some of the other managers as well :)

bonus fucked up looking chip when i attempted to draw him for the first time without realizing how his face actually worked

[lapinparka]

I get confused (and bothered) by FES elitist-types in the ryo.mina side of the fandom who hate on Portable/Kotone. Not only did that ship (and honestly? Ryoji as the fleshed-out character he is now) not exist in FES, but we wouldn't have the ryo.mina content we do without Ryoji's iconic line from his social link

[trivalentlinks]

horrified to learn this morning that the guy i took mma classes from when i lived in england is a close personal friend of andrew tate's

[cooking-with-hailstones]

Gooood grief, are people really in the year of our lord 2023 deliberately hate-tagging ships??? Are y'all really doing this???

[reimenaashelyee]

Campaign to make The God of Arepo an award winning work and win a literal brick as a trophy for the authors and for Tumblr community as a whole (SUCCEEDED!!!! Update below)

As the artist for one of The God of Arepo comics, my version is up for consideration for the Ignatz Awards for Outstanding Online Comic.

For those of you who don't know the Ignatz is one of the highest industry awards that "recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers".

The thing is, winning the award means winning an actual literal brick. Because the mascot is a brick-throwing mouse. So they have to make a bit where the trophy is a brick. Like. Look.

For a long time I thought it was just plain bricks they were handing out, but my friend who won a couple of bricks two years ago had theirs stamped (I saw the bricks in person at their house). So now I am obsessed with the idea of The God of Arepo winning an Ignatz trophy. It will have the honours stamped. On a freaking brick. That's the most Tumblr level meme trophy this comic/story could win (which is also a legit high honour industry award on its own btw don't get me wrong). But wilder than that, the brick allows me to do something. It allows me to smash that break into 5 pieces and ship one of each to the authors plus myself. Writing Prompts, sadoeuphemist, ciiriianan, stu-pot and me will get a piece of clay in recognition for our work with the farmer who built a temple out of stone. The full circle moment.

Imagine the value of this win to the lore of this Tumblr sacred text/folklore. This brick will be smashed and given to the creators, but as a collective folklore, it's also dedicated to all of us on this hellsite too. AWARD WINNING. If The God of Arepo wins I will document the entire process of smashing that brick here.

But we have to make this happen. We need to gather our collective energy and make this campaign work. Please help make The God of Arepo an award-winning story and vote for it in the Outstanding Online Comic category (link). You will need to request a ballot, then submit your vote. I recommend checking out the other nominated comics too. The Ignatz really shortlists good stuff. The voting closes September 8 2023 . LET'S GET THE GOD OF AREPO A BRICK FOR HIS TEMPLE!! LET'S GO!!!! REBLOGS HELP TOO!!

[jacksintention]

I'm leaving here another piece by this artist (and the sketch!)

  Day 30 - found