.thought to .jpeg — AI Explorations.

If you have an idea and can vaguely express it to your peers, Midjourney is one of the platforms that would enable you to visualize it. The AI-backed software uses specific command prompts to generate and stitch an image using millions of online images. The research lab uses the discord server as a medium to communicate with the AI.

Architects, designers, and even scientists have tried using the AI to create some stunning images. It is a great way to experiment with various concepts without spending too much time understanding how they interact with each other.Although the AI creates images that may look visually appealing, there is no backing of whether the concepts and materials work together or not. It also does not follow scientific principles and most of the renders created are artsy and dream-like. But, in a poetic sense, the AI could be seen as the ‘midjourney’ between our consciousness and our dreams.

Mid-journey could be looked upon as a dream that requires certain human intervention to take an abstract thought to fruition, a tool for starting out; a brainstorming visualiser perhaps. I believe it could become the basis of a whole lot more. Instead of only generating artwork it could be used to create and experiment with never-before created forms, textures, lighting, interactions, and more.

With the onset of AI in design, the question arises — Is the AI your co-creator, or do you solely own the rights to the render? According to midjourney, you along with midjourney own the copyrights to the render generated if you become a paid member and this may be fair if you look at it in terms of the AI being a part of your team but similar to other software it could also be looked upon as a tool and without your prompt the render would never have been generated. So far there is no clear distinction. Copyright law is currently a very murky territory, which will probably become clearer in the future as the programs are explored further.

AI has entered a stage where we interact with it daily and has become a part of our everyday lives. Even as I write this, a grammar-correcting AI (no surprises there!) corrects and improves my writing. As a person exploring creative space, possibly the best option for us is to embrace what’s coming and make the most of it.