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Talked with my nephew about AI art and felt like the old man for once
My nephew is 14 and he showed me a picture he made using Midjourney. It was actually pretty cool - a dragon fighting a robot in a city. I started going off about how it's not real art because he didn't draw anything. He just looked at me and said "but I still had to think of the idea, come up with the prompts, and pick the best version out of 50 tries. Is that not creative work?" It hit me different because he had a point. I never thought about the skill involved in prompt engineering or curating outputs. Made me wonder if my whole stance on AI art is just me being defensive. Has anyone else had a young person change your mind about a tech issue?
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jasonallen5mo ago
My buddy @kimmurphy's kid showed him 47 versions of one cat before picking the final one.
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the_jennifer5mo ago
Took my daughter arguing the same thing last year before I got it. Started treating it like photography - the tool matters way less than the eye behind it. She'd spend three hours tweaking prompts and swapping models, blending outputs in Photoshop to get one solid piece. Makes me think if your nephew is doing original concepts and building on the AI's output, that's closer to directing a film than just pushing a button.
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kimmurphy5mo ago
The_jennifer's photography comparison is a good one. Now I'm the guy who had to eat crow after telling a 14 year old his dragon robot battle wasn't "real work." At least I can comfort myself knowing I'll be the old man who learned something new, which is better than being the old man who just yells at clouds. How did you end up handling that first conversation with your kid?
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