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VISUAL CREATORS
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🎨 Artists Demand Christie’s Cancel AI Auction!

The Story: Thousands of artists are petitioning Christie’s to halt its upcoming auction, “Augmented Intelligence,” citing concerns over the use of AI technology in creating the auctioned art. The letter claims that many of the works are derived from AI models trained on copyrighted materials without permission, equating this to mass theft of artists' work. The auction, featuring pieces by prominent artists, is set to run from February 20 to March 5 and reflects ongoing tensions between traditional artists and the emerging AI art industry.

The Details:

• The letter protesting the auction boasts over 3,600 signatures from artists asserting that the AI tools infringe on copyright by using unauthorized works.

• High-profile signatories include Karla Ortiz and Kelly McKernan, who are currently litigating against AI companies for alleged copyright violations.

• Christie’s has defended the auction, claiming that the artists involved have strong practices and often train AI models with their own works.

• Some participating artists argue that their works represent a legitimate exploration of AI, not exploitation, while others strongly reject the notion that AI art equates to theft.

• The auction itself features a range of artworks, from digital pieces to mixed-media creations, and reflects an evolution in artistic practice that incorporates AI as a tool.

Why It Matters: This controversy highlights a critical intersection of art, technology, and copyright law that is shaping the future of the creative industry. The artists’ call to cancel the auction illustrates the ongoing struggle to define ownership and creative rights in an age where AI-generated content is part of the artistic landscape. For creatives, this issue raises vital questions about the ethics of using technology within their practices and the economic impacts of unregulated AI art sales, potentially setting a precedent for future interactions between artists and tech innovators.

PRODUCTION MASTERY
The commercial aspects of creativity.

🤖 Poetry Showdown: AI vs. Humans!

The Story: A groundbreaking study reveals that most participants cannot distinguish AI-generated poetry from that written by humans, often rating AI poems more favorably. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh found that non-experts favored AI compositions for their clarity and accessibility, highlighting a growing trend in the perception of creative writing.

I haven't seen any AI-generated images in so long
byu/katxwoods inmemes

The Details:

• Researchers tested thousands of participants' ability to differentiate between poems from ten renowned poets and AI-generated poems, ultimately showing better misidentification of AI vs. human works.

• The team evaluated the poems’ qualities, encompassing overall quality, rhythm, and emotional impact, finding AI poetry received notably higher ratings across these measures.

• Two experiments were conducted: the first focused on identification accuracy of authorship, while the second assessed aesthetic evaluations of the poems.

• Errors in distinguishing authorship often favored AI poems as "human," particularly due to their straightforwardness that appealed to non-expert readers.

• The complexity inherent in human poetry may deter some readers, leading them to misinterpret AI-generated works' simplicity as clarity.

Why It Matters: This study raises essential questions about the evolving landscape of creativity in the age of AI, crucial for writers and artists alike. As generative AI continues to blur the lines between human and machine-made art, creative professionals should be aware of how audiences perceive quality and accessibility in poetry and possibly other forms of art. This insight could lead to shifts in how poetic narratives are crafted and critiqued, impacting the future of creative expression and authorship in an increasingly AI-influenced cultural realm.

CREATOR ECONOMY
Navigating the digital creative world.

📸 Flashes Beta: A New Instagram Rival!

The Story: Flashes, an exciting new photo-sharing app tied to the growing Bluesky network, has launched in beta, drawing over 3,000 eager testers within hours. Developed by Sebastian Vogelsang, Flashes aims to provide an Instagram-like experience while promoting Bluesky's decentralized social media platform, winning over users looking for alternatives to Meta's ecosystem.

The Details:

• Flashes allows users to share up to four photos and video clips of up to one minute, melding familiar features found in Instagram with the Bluesky experience.

• The app filters posts from Bluesky for users' feeds, meaning posts made on Flashes show up there and vice versa, creating an interconnected environment for content sharing.

• Previously launched as Skeets, Vogelsang's earlier app has laid a solid foundation for Flashes, allowing a quicker rollout and a user-friendly interface featuring double tap to like and image zoom gestures.

• Currently in beta only on iOS, Flashes is planning a quick Android launch, responding to user demand for chronological timelines, with options such as “Trending,” “Timeline,” and “Following.”

Why It Matters: As the landslide of dissatisfaction with Meta’s approach grows, Flashes offers a promising alternative by harnessing the decentralized nature of Bluesky. Its immediate adoption highlights a rising interest in platforms that empower users with better privacy and choice. For creatives, the potential for blending visually-driven content with a user-friendly design in Flashes could present a new avenue for engagement, visibility, and community building beyond the conventional social media giants.

🔥 Press Worthy

📽️ VISUAL CREATORS

The Getty Museum has acquired its first A.I.-generated photograph, created by queer Costa Rican artist Matias Sauter Morera. The work, depicting aspects of hidden gay culture, will be showcased in the upcoming exhibition “The Queer Lens,” enriching its LGBTQ+ and Latin American focus.

A hidden figure of a woman has been unveiled beneath Picasso’s Portrait of Mateu Fernández de Soto, revealing layers of artistry from his Blue Period. Conservators at the Courtauld Institute used advanced imaging to discover this mystery, hinting at deeper narratives in Picasso's work.

📈 PRODUCTION MASTERY

A recent study by Sapienza University shows that music across genres has simplified over time, likely due to increased accessibility and technology. Using AI and 'Network Science,' researchers analyzed 20,000 MIDI files and confirmed that complex music has been on a decline.

Writers Jesse Eisenberg, Mona Fastvold, and Peter Straughan shared insights at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. Straughan added explosions to "Conclave," while Fastvold obsessed over "The Brutalist." Eisenberg's unique email script approach sparked engaging conversations among peers.

🎭 CREATOR ECONOMY

Retro design is staging a comeback, with companies like Apple and Airbnb embracing tactile aesthetics. The return to skeuomorphism reflects a rejection of sterile minimalism, as nostalgia meets a desire for warmer, messier designs. Could this trend redefine UI?

As U.S. creators coped with TikTok's outage, U.K. talent surged with a 15% posting boost, tapping into the content vacuum. Influencer agency Billion Dollar Boy noted U.S. creators’ 3% drop in activity, while Brits thrived, offering audiences more engaging content amidst the chaos.

📚 Learn & Grow

📽️ VISUAL CREATORS

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📈 PRODUCTION MASTERY

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🎭 CREATOR ECONOMY

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