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I think this is true, but it's worth expanding, because it's not just lingo. Personally, I am sick of seeing AI generated images in blogs, advertising campaign

by louthy 2y ago

I think this is true, but it's worth expanding, because it's not just lingo. Personally, I am sick of seeing AI generated images in blogs, advertising campaigns, and in social media posts. There's a weird uncanny valley to them that always puts me off. I think subconsciously it makes me devalue whatever the image is attached to. I might end up being negatively biased toward a blog author, or refuse to engage with a company that is using AI based imagery. Of course, it's likely that we'll get past that point, where AI generated images aren't in the uncanny valley, but until then it's off-putting. Recently I had an email from someone praising my open source work and it was clearly AI generated, which felt completely insincere. And so, misuse of AI in situations where it makes the human being that interacts with it balk isn't good either. As you say the language is annoying: "AI powered" or similar language is just meaningless to most people. People are not turned off by features in software that 'just work' because there's some AI running quietly behind the scenes. They're put off by bold claims that don't actually materialise and the human/AI interaction-boundary that can sometimes lead to more effort on the part of the human. AI is a technique used by software engineers, we shouldn't need to talk about it at all (except to each other and maybe VCs). We don't market our apps as "Relational database powered", in time we won't mention AI at all.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
ewoodrich 2y ago
Lately I’ve been seeing Reddit ads with clearly AI generated marketing images and it just makes me assume the company is an unserious fly-by-night operation and/or a one person company. The most embarrassing recurring ad I’ve seen lately is for some kind of device management IT solution with AI generated MacBooks where the Apple logo is completely mangled. No idea how you could overlook that or notice it but somehow think it doesn’t cheapen your company’s image.
- louthy 2y ago
  > it just makes me assume the company is an unserious fly-by-night operation and/or a one person company Exactly this. Any serious company would manage their brand seriously. Even if you're a one person bootstrapped startup, you should take your brand seriously and get some artwork commissioned. It isn't that expensive and makes a massive difference to how you're perceived. Using AI generated images says to me (rightly or wrongly) that you take shortcuts. So, if you take shortcuts with your brand, what's your product like?
- nicholassmith 2y ago
  Whilst watching the Olympics I've seen an eToro ad a few times that is very clearly AI generated, it wasn't exactly a confidence builder in a financial platform.
j45 2y ago
The generations are so basic that they make the brand look cheaper. You pretty much have to be at the cutting edge of generative ai to generate images, etc, but it still may have a shelf life.
- ksaj 2y ago
  This is absolutely true. Sonu is an AI music creator. Regardless of music style, I can immediately identify it. There are some very obvious (to me, anyway) musical choices it makes with both notes, and their delivery. Rick Beato (YouTube music personality, for lack of a better description) pointed out his kids can tell, but he can't. I think, at least with Sonu, the moment the sound clicks, you can't not hear it when it's there, whether the song is pop, metal, country, classical... it has that specific sound that can't be ignored when you notice it.
  - j45 2y ago
    Udio is trippy in its own way like this. Sometimes it sounds like every singers voice that can fit a genre can be heard at once unless you specify it.
  - j45 2y ago
    Udio seems to pull it off more often. The other day I had someone mention to me their copywriting prompts were still looking basic.. and right away I knew his process was basic or dated.
  - Nursie 2y ago
    Try out udio. I was absolutely blown away by it. It's clear that it has been trained on everyone's real output, ever, and their "You can't request the styles of real artists" is just a figleaf. But the output is impressive.
    - ksaj 2y ago
      The idea that you can insert words like "Doors" and hope it uses but not knowingly bits from "The Doors" is pretty much the opposite of a figleaf. People often put things like that in their prompts, and confirmation bias tells them it worked when they run it a few times and get something that sounds like The Doors, even though the meaningless bit of prompt you gave it was simply ignored. The similarity is because of your words and description of the style. Period. Writing "Yngwie" in the prompt will get you arpeggios, but they sound nothing like him. Just as another example. Because the prompt is giving the AI genre cues only, and nothing so specific as actual Yngwie arpeggios, scales and ladder riffs.
outofpaper 2y ago
Absolutely, AI's impact is clear-cut. When it works seamlessly, it fades into the background, letting non-engineers enjoy our creations. But when it falters, it distracts and adds no value. Our focus should be on delivering flawless creations that provide real value, regardless of the technology behind them.
whstl 2y ago
To me the problem is not just being in the uncanny valley: even when they are realistic they are often way too mediocre! Not just the visuals but the content as well. It's always stuff that nobody would bother drawing or staging to take a photograph. And I associate it with laziness, low effort, low quality, throwaway content. Same for AI generated text: it's super easy to see when something is AI generated and follows a pattern. Those patterns get quite tiring to read after a while. In hotel websites, for example, there's often AI text that is obviously converted from existing tabular data. I would prefer to have proper UX for the data instead of the text. With text it's harder to scan for specific information or to compare between pages.
- ksaj 2y ago
  There are easy examples that prove both sides. Depending on your use, the current state of AI does some amazing things. It also is being pigeonholed into areas where it is not yet ready. There are a LOT of examples out there on that. A hobby of mine is using AI to find bizarre ways to code things that aren't the normal way of thinking of the problem. Obviously it isn't practical, but it is fun. I most recently got ChatGPT to generate Pi from a random length string of 5's like this: ~~~ from math import sin, radians def fives(repeat: int) -> float: repeated = 1 / int('5' * repeat) value = sin(radians(repeated)) * (10 ** (repeat + 2)) return value ~~~ Yes, it uses a repeating string of 5's to generate pi. Call it with "fives(18)" as an example. This is a cleaned up version of what ChatGPT gave me, but all the same, it works. A string of 5's can give you progressively more accurate estimations of pi - more 5's, more accurate pi. Bizarre question to ask an AI, but playing like this is how eventually discoveries are made, since it is capable of coming up with working answers. (Edit: corrected markdown copy-pasta weirdness. You can copy/paste but have to remove the extra indents HN adds. It's normal python, you know how to do it.)
  - plasticeagle 2y ago
    But... This code just outputs almost-zero. It clearly just sets `repeated` to a number very close to zero, takes the sin of it - which will also be close to zero - and then multiplies that by a small number. I don't think this is how discoveries are going to be made. What am I missing here?

by louthy 2y ago

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

ewoodrich 2y ago

Lately I’ve been seeing Reddit ads with clearly AI generated marketing images and it just makes me assume the company is an unserious fly-by-night operation and/or a one person company. The most embarrassing recurring ad I’ve seen lately is for some kind of device management IT solution with AI generated MacBooks where the Apple logo is completely mangled. No idea how you could overlook that or notice it but somehow think it doesn’t cheapen your company’s image.

louthy 2y ago
> it just makes me assume the company is an unserious fly-by-night operation and/or a one person company Exactly this. Any serious company would manage their brand seriously. Even if you're a one person bootstrapped startup, you should take your brand seriously and get some artwork commissioned. It isn't that expensive and makes a massive difference to how you're perceived. Using AI generated images says to me (rightly or wrongly) that you take shortcuts. So, if you take shortcuts with your brand, what's your product like?
nicholassmith 2y ago
Whilst watching the Olympics I've seen an eToro ad a few times that is very clearly AI generated, it wasn't exactly a confidence builder in a financial platform.

j45 2y ago

The generations are so basic that they make the brand look cheaper. You pretty much have to be at the cutting edge of generative ai to generate images, etc, but it still may have a shelf life.

ksaj 2y ago
This is absolutely true. Sonu is an AI music creator. Regardless of music style, I can immediately identify it. There are some very obvious (to me, anyway) musical choices it makes with both notes, and their delivery. Rick Beato (YouTube music personality, for lack of a better description) pointed out his kids can tell, but he can't. I think, at least with Sonu, the moment the sound clicks, you can't not hear it when it's there, whether the song is pop, metal, country, classical... it has that specific sound that can't be ignored when you notice it.
- j45 2y ago
  Udio is trippy in its own way like this. Sometimes it sounds like every singers voice that can fit a genre can be heard at once unless you specify it.
- j45 2y ago
  Udio seems to pull it off more often. The other day I had someone mention to me their copywriting prompts were still looking basic.. and right away I knew his process was basic or dated.
- Nursie 2y ago
  Try out udio. I was absolutely blown away by it. It's clear that it has been trained on everyone's real output, ever, and their "You can't request the styles of real artists" is just a figleaf. But the output is impressive.
  - ksaj 2y ago
    The idea that you can insert words like "Doors" and hope it uses but not knowingly bits from "The Doors" is pretty much the opposite of a figleaf. People often put things like that in their prompts, and confirmation bias tells them it worked when they run it a few times and get something that sounds like The Doors, even though the meaningless bit of prompt you gave it was simply ignored. The similarity is because of your words and description of the style. Period. Writing "Yngwie" in the prompt will get you arpeggios, but they sound nothing like him. Just as another example. Because the prompt is giving the AI genre cues only, and nothing so specific as actual Yngwie arpeggios, scales and ladder riffs.

outofpaper 2y ago

Absolutely, AI's impact is clear-cut. When it works seamlessly, it fades into the background, letting non-engineers enjoy our creations. But when it falters, it distracts and adds no value. Our focus should be on delivering flawless creations that provide real value, regardless of the technology behind them.

whstl 2y ago

To me the problem is not just being in the uncanny valley: even when they are realistic they are often way too mediocre! Not just the visuals but the content as well. It's always stuff that nobody would bother drawing or staging to take a photograph. And I associate it with laziness, low effort, low quality, throwaway content. Same for AI generated text: it's super easy to see when something is AI generated and follows a pattern. Those patterns get quite tiring to read after a while. In hotel websites, for example, there's often AI text that is obviously converted from existing tabular data. I would prefer to have proper UX for the data instead of the text. With text it's harder to scan for specific information or to compare between pages.

ksaj 2y ago
There are easy examples that prove both sides. Depending on your use, the current state of AI does some amazing things. It also is being pigeonholed into areas where it is not yet ready. There are a LOT of examples out there on that. A hobby of mine is using AI to find bizarre ways to code things that aren't the normal way of thinking of the problem. Obviously it isn't practical, but it is fun. I most recently got ChatGPT to generate Pi from a random length string of 5's like this: ~~~ from math import sin, radians def fives(repeat: int) -> float: repeated = 1 / int('5' * repeat) value = sin(radians(repeated)) * (10 ** (repeat + 2)) return value ~~~ Yes, it uses a repeating string of 5's to generate pi. Call it with "fives(18)" as an example. This is a cleaned up version of what ChatGPT gave me, but all the same, it works. A string of 5's can give you progressively more accurate estimations of pi - more 5's, more accurate pi. Bizarre question to ask an AI, but playing like this is how eventually discoveries are made, since it is capable of coming up with working answers. (Edit: corrected markdown copy-pasta weirdness. You can copy/paste but have to remove the extra indents HN adds. It's normal python, you know how to do it.)
- plasticeagle 2y ago
  But... This code just outputs almost-zero. It clearly just sets `repeated` to a number very close to zero, takes the sin of it - which will also be close to zero - and then multiplies that by a small number. I don't think this is how discoveries are going to be made. What am I missing here?