Do you see what I see? How AI art could help you win narrative wars
Squint a little and see the future of content
Lots has been happening over here at AI Impact Lab. I’ll be making a broad announcement soon about several different series of workshops that we are now offering to train your team on key AI tools. But today I’ll just tease one of those series — AI audiovisual tools — with the latest hot AI art trend that’s sweeping the internet.
For fun, I’ll plop the first (and trickiest) image in with no further explanation, so you get to try to see the interesting part on your own
If you don’t get it, back up from your screen, make the image smaller, and/or squint.
If that doesn’t work, try this one next:
And if you still don’t get it, this one should clue you in:
How to make your own
I made all three of these images in a total of less than 10 min, following these instructions from Twitter. In short:
Make a black-and-white image file of a word in a bold font (the X thread linked to above says to use Canva, but if you don’t have Canva, you can just make the “pattern” in Google Drawings or, heck, take a screenshot of a word doc.)
Upload it to quickqr.art as your “pattern.”
Add a prompt. Mine for the above three images were:
“windmills on a hilltop, sunny day”
“solar panels on a hilltop, sunny day”
“clouds floating across the sunny sky”
Generate! (Note: You get some free credits to start out. Also, quickqr.art isn’t the only game in town, you can try other apps too.)
And then play around with the “weight” — higher weight makes the word more obvious, lower weight makes it less obvious.
Why invest in AI audiovisual tools?
Powerful content is the key to narrative change in today’s information economy. Creating viral images and content that spread awareness of renewable energy solutions isn't just fun; it's a powerful way of building momentum for those very solutions. This isn't limited to environmental causes; the same strategy can be applied across a myriad of social change organizations.
Three reasons AI audiovisual tools are valuable to social change organizations:
Branding and narrative change. Human brains are wired to love stories and visuals. AI audiovisual tools offer you the opportunity to craft compelling narratives that deeply connect with your audience, whether you're explaining program impact or sharing success stories.
Saving time & money. Once you've mastered the basics, high-quality content creation takes much, much less time using these tools. All of which means that these AI-generated AV tools could help many mission-driven organizations achieve higher impact.
Accessibility. AI audiovisual tools allow you to communicate much more readily with people with visual and hearing impairments, speakers of other languages, and more.
Just to name an elephant in the room: I very much understand the concerns about intellectual property and artists’ livelihoods. (IMHO, the entire modern intellectual property regime needs to be fundamentally overhauled.) I am sympathetic to the Hollywood strike, which right now is the pointy end of this issue.
But do I think that, say, fossil fuel companies are worried about artists’ rights? No, I do not. AI audiovisual tools are revolutionizing the content economy, and I fear that those who don’t leverage those tools will lose out in existentially important narrative battles to those who do.
AI audiovisual tools are revolutionizing the content economy, and I fear that those who don’t leverage those tools will lose out in existentially important narrative battles to those who do.
There are other risks to using these tools as well — brand risks, risks of not owning the copyright to your content, etc. Every organization is going to have to feel its way through these issues themselves, and along with workshops on these tools, AI Impact Lab also offers consulting around risk and policy issues.
But these tools aren’t just quirky playthings. They are groundbreaking technology that are transforming the information economy and, used carefully and thoughtfully, can help you amplify your mission.
If this sparks your interest and you're considering in learning more about incorporating audiovisual AI tools into your work, reach out now!
And for funsies, here’s a final image with the “weight” set very low — see if you can figure it out!