An actual “AI” classification system would of course need a bunch of refinements to be as effective and Designed as possible, this is just throwing my hat in the ring. I claim no copyright. Made with my drawing pad in GIMP, then trace bitmap in Inkscape, everything else done in Inkscape.
I REALLY like the idea of a classification system!
I work in software, and having an idea of how much slop is in a project would be great. In my experience, there’s definitely value in using AI for mindless stuff, but if you start letting it make creative decisions things get ugly.
Maybe there are a few different axes to consider:
- Type of decisions made (menial vs creative)
- How much review was done of the output (might be more relevant for code than images)
- Domain expertise of the user (can they evaluate the quality of output?)
- Probably others?
I think prompting doesn’t necessarily make things bad, but I think it’s fair to use “how much prompting was done?” as a signal.
I’d argue that the only creative input to a prompt-based system is the prompt itself. An image from “big booba girl” is trash, but I think there can be some value in using AI to create something specific that you wouldn’t have otherwise.For example, I’m glad that someone made this, even though it’s AI. Even if it was prompted, there was creativity and clearly a vision that the creator had, and a prompt would need to be long enough to reflect that.
Maybe the key difference is using AI as a tool vs using it to make creative decisions. Prompt-based systems can easily be misused to make creative decisions, so I definitely understand viewing them with skepticism, but I don’t think they’re categorically bad. I do think it’d be a generally good practice for folks to share the prompts they used, so that others can evaluate for themselves what comes from the human vs what comes from AI.
Great commentary!
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
It would be funny if you used the amount of AI in each warning to make that icon. So, you know, each one getting more and more elaborate.
I like it, but I don’t understand why there’s an emphasis on prompt vs non-prompt AI (I see why there’s specific emphasis on deepfakes, of course)
ideally we’d be able to undermine the conflation of generative slop with the rest of machine learning.
the mass of rubes who chose not to learn anything about computers (people older than me) or who had the inner workings of computers maliciously hidden from them (people younger than me) accept a chatbot as “intelligence” because they don’t know any better, to varying degrees that may or may not be willful ignorance.
Part of my inspiration to make these icons was me thinking about the qualitative difference between my own use of ML technologies in my no-budget cartoon I’m making, and the “”““AI anime””“” type stuff that rightfully disgusts any sensible person. The most obvious difference I can think of is that my own ML software I use — Demucs to make instrumental versions of songs, Retrieval-based Voice Conversion to let me voice act outside my normal vocal range — don’t involve prompts. Because if you’re writing prompts, generally speaking, you are functionally not the artist so much as you are the commissioner, right? A skilless, creatively bankrupt, entitled consumer.
Things are of course not this black and white in reality, though: you can be skilless and creatively bankrupt using non-prompt-based software, or even skilled and creative using prompt-based software, simply because there are so many different tools and different ways to use them. Just speaking generally, though, I do believe that prompt-based software is used to make way more slop than non-prompt-based software, just because of the way you interact with prompt-based software. But the fact that “AI” isn’t black and white is why, as I was saying in the post body, an “AI” classification system needs a lot of refinements and testing to figure out what actually is the most important information and how to communicate that information most effectively.
the pollution of the term “ai” is the greatest marketing coup since pop pop fizz fizz doubling the sales of alka-seltzer
I use deepseek as the new google, nothing else, is that considered limited o free?
If you’re using Deepseek as a jumping off point for research, it’s just facts and you’re verifying everything it spits out, and phrasing the facts in your own words in the actual work, then I think it would probably be fair to say “AI”-free.
On the other hand, if you’re copying generated text verbatim, not verifying the hallucination machine’s claims, or using the machine to offload creative work, then it would be orange. Chatbots count as prompt-based.
Yeah that makes sense
Since you can draw some basic shapes in Photoshop and Photoshop will hallucinate a picture from it, would that be blue level? Because what the hell else does that one mean?
Whatever the case may be, anything not green is poop from a butt.
Because what the hell else does that one mean?
The examples I was thinking of were e.g. using CorridorKey to clean up green screen footage, using Demucs to generate instrumentals from songs with vocals, or using ML-based speech recognition to dictate text. Usage of Photoshop’s ““AI features”” is generally going to be red because the said ““features”” usually involve prompts and can be used to create deceptive images of real people.
But yeah, these are pretty rough categories. A lot of work needs to be done to figure out which classifications make sense and how best to convey them to the general public.
I like it!
ROYBG? ROYBG‽ ROYBG!
Yeah, it kinda stank to put the rainbow colors out of order, but green symbolizes “positive, good” and blue is more of a neutral color, so I decided to prioritize color symbolism over the proper order of the colors.
I figured, but I’m still angry.
So tell me this, if I use dictation software that uses machine learning to write a book, would that be no AI or limited AI?
Limited.
CC welcome?
CC
I think the first one should look like the old technique or blowing ochre or similar over a hand, i.e. the hand is a negative. I think that leaves more room for no AI or something in the palm more naturally and connects to human art roots.
Reminds me of the logo for my old improv troupe, Robot Oligarchy
