By now we all assume the robots are taking over, jobs and perhaps even human life are likely doomed, so I'm not sure why you're even reading this, but then again this sort of complaint and end-of-the-world prediction has been bandied about with most every new invention since fire came into vogue. I remember life before the internet, I was in college when the internet actually became a normal part of life, and now I'm watching the same sort of cultural acceptance of AI, AI art generators in particular. And from the little experience I've had, I can assure you that as cool and interesting as this technology is, it isn't poised to destroy either art or life as we know it. It is just another tool in our creativity kit, much like adding the camera to our skillset didn't destroy but rather expanded our concept and understanding of art.
The computer can only assess millions of known images, it can't think, it doesn't have an aesthetic sense, it doesn't even really care if a hand has five fingers or ten. It doesn't care if you want a picture of a screw or a vivid scene out of a fantasy novel, it is all the same to the generator. You still need a human artist directing the production of the image, selecting which images to edit, and then doing the necessary editing. The results can be astounding, but it takes a lot of work, patience, and luck to get there. I'm not sure it is all that different from taking a picture, in theory all I do is push a button and bam I have art, but I need the right equipment, the knowledge to use that equipment, something to take a picture of, and an eye to see how it is worth picturing, and then the discernment to edit and select the final image. AI is the same, but instead you come up with an image in your head and turn it into a descriptive phrase the computer can understand and then hit the button and hope you aren't ending up with something completely strange.
I've been using Leonardo.ai and it has been a blast, if occasionally grotesque. The images are beautiful but they do have their quirks. If you are an artist, a writer, or a connoisseur of either, I think you will be ahead of the game because you already have a vocabulary and an eye for good art, so you only have to learn to translate that into something the computer can use to make it real, but if you have neither, you have to learn what makes a good image and then how to translate that into words the computer can understand. I think it is a great tool existing artists can add to their toolkit and something, that if diligently used, may even help develop a whole new generation of artists. Instead of just being consumers of art, it is now very approachable for anyone to become a creator of art. Just like the ubiquitous phone camera has birthed many an amateur photographer, so too does this have the potential to create more creators!
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