What I Made

This week was primarily focused on my thesis video project. At the time of writing it's not entirely done, I'd say around 80%, but there's enough structure and content for me to reflect and give myself some feedback before presenting them on Monday.

My video took the form of a video essay / motion graphic explainer, which talks about the sort of technical aspects of AI, and the conceptual side of the actual point of using AI to generate images. My inspirations for this are primarily from video essays on Youtube, with the best one's having rather high production, storytelling, and educational value (such as Vsauce, SEA, and Lemino to name a few). I chose this form to give myself the most breathing room in being able to explain these things through narration and through designed graphics. Motion Graphics to condense complex concepts into digestible information, and narration to fill in the gaps and breathe more information that the graphics alone might not cover. The final video will probably be around 5 - 5 1/2 minutes, which I think might be running a little long for the scope of the assignment and the time it's taking me to complete it, but there is a lot to cover, which I think will be beneficial as far as the actual written component of the thesis - getting the words out. In this instance it's in the form of a script, but that's much easier to convert to the written portion rather than keeping it all in my head (the written portion will be beginning to be drafted in the next month as per my timeline).

I also think the use of motion graphics is beneficial to me for a number of reasons. They're more engaging than static images or posters (such as the emergent garden poster, which will be referenced in the video), they're interesting and fun for me to make and in putting them to practice I am inherently learning more, they provide a basis for a possible branded component of the thesis (valuable in a portfolio project) and they are a valuable skill to have in practice (and can make you more $$$). 

Additionally, motion graphics are an area in design which AI hasn't quite breached into yet (successfully at least), as there is a lot more nuance in designing something graphical that's moving and consistent at 60fps, with a plethora of effects and design choices to make along the way. Of course, you can input motion graphics as a starting point for AI to compose over the graphics you make, but from a start-to-end process it still has a long way to go in this area.

Some highlights from the video are below in .gif format:

These might not display correctly as intended as .gifs on WordPress, they're making my browser lag as they're being uploaded and the frame rate is drastically reduced from what they're meant to be at, but I am happy with how they are looking in the final video. I used a mix of After Effects and Cavalry to make them.

In doing this assignment I'm thinking on the value of what a motion graphics piece could look like for my thesis, and thinking that it could be something that could be incorporated, even if I'm not actually using AI. I'm thinking about Mira Jung's thesis, where she used interactive motion graphics with sensors that played when people crossed a certain threshold of a projector setup, and how something of a similar nature might be used in mine. Additionally, while I think the video may be a bit on the longer side for this assignment, I think what Alex said in class on having a "directors cut", or more specifically, a longer form of the video could also be beneficial for my thesis. Something that's lacking in the video as it is now is a more in-depth overview of how AI works, because there's a lot more to it than what I could cover, such as datasets, how a model is trained/learns, or even on their history, covering things like Joseph Weizenbaum's ELIZA the first AI chatbot, or Harold Cohen's AARON, the first AI painter. I also couldn't cover some of the ethical concerns about AI, which, although my thesis isn't primarily focused on these ethical aspects, it's hard to not talk about AI without covering them at least briefly.

What I Read

Reading again took a little backseat this week so I could focus more on the video project, so I mainly continued reading Transcending Imagination for a couple chapters when/where I could.

In Chapter 3, Form Shapes Perceptions, Manu emphasizes that form is more than structure: it's the framework that shapes how we see and interpret reality. AI and virtual reality accelerate rapid iterations, allowing artists and designers to experiment and create new realities at unprecedented speed. Personally, I think this is a played out view on AI and can undermine its value a little bit. It harkens back to the age old quality vs. quantity tension, where now more than ever people can produce visually interesting things, but the quality might not be there, as evidenced by the AI "slop" that permeates through social media nowadays. However, there is value in this democratization of image making, which I relate to in my "Image Space" section in my video, that of which playing with AI in rapidly making images can let you throw lot's of ideas at the wall to see what sticks so you can run with it further. In this sense AI can act as a sort of filter of ideas, and an unexpected idea maker, which he expands on in Chapter 4

Chapter 4, Incidental Beauty, explores beauty as something that often emerges unexpectedly rather than being deliberately designed. While art and design can intentionally align intention and perception to produce beauty, incidental beauty arises from chance encounters like "a spider’s web in the dew or graffiti illuminated by sunset—that surprise and provoke wonder." This is the art of noticing, and these moments of unplanned beauty challenge fixed aesthetic beliefs and encourage mindfulness, urging us to see the world with fresh eyes. Manu argues that AI-generated art also creates opportunities for incidental beauty by producing unanticipated results, expanding aesthetic diversity and reminding us to remain open to surprise and transformation in our experience of art and the world. I bring up this concept in my video too and I think it relates great to play, as exploring with AI in low stakes and fun environments can lead to something greater.

Where the Next Steps are Leading

Immediately there are a couple things I need to finish with this video, and I did see your (Alex's) email with the IRB form that I need to fill out, which inevitably leads me to having to hone in a little more on the aspects of the interviews and workshops that I need to conduct, things like the audience I'm working towards and the questions I need to ask. After this, into October and November, is deliverable crunch time, where I fill focus on more project based stuff, like a longer form video or TouchDesigner projects. Additionally on the research side of things I want to focus on drafting solid interview questions first after IRB.