AI is the centre of attention nowadays, particularly in the art community. Architecture is no exception.
There are multiple AI platforms available in the market, where the majority come on a subscription basis. To put it bluntly: you need to pay for these services.
Then I came across Copilot, which is free... and here's what I've tried and found out.
P/S This is not an ad sponsor. I genuinely tried this complementary product and am now expressing my thoughts.
This blog post is organised as below:
What is Copilot, where can I use it, and how?
Copilot is an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, developed by Microsoft as a built-in feature of Microsoft Edge. Copilot not only chats with you but also plans your tours, composes your music and writes your blog!
Before you start... no, this blog post isn't written by one, I'm a legit person LOL
But these aren't why you're here. You're here because of art.
How do I use Copilot to create art?
There's a prompt box, and simply type out what you want the system to draw. Wait for a few seconds, and voila you have your "art".
Does it feel obnoxiously simple? Yes, it is ridiculously simple.
By default, Copilot will produce four images for each prompt. You can add more instructions within the same chatbox to make changes.
Below are my trials with Copilot's AI-generated images:
Architecture and design, according to AI
I needed ideas for some projects in House Flipper, so I started with something less ambitious to expect typical perspectives.
For simplicity, I'll only show 2 of the 4 generated images. The image quality and resolution are slightly reduced to save some storage space for future blog posts haha.
My prompt: Create images of a bedroom interior design, using only bold colours.
Love, love, love them! I can see myself using these as precedent studies; most importantly, they can be constructed and finished in the real world.
To check if AI recognised more than one architectural style, I tried another boring challenge:
My prompt: The interior of a typical sauna room.
Copilot's reply: I’ve created an image that captures the essence of a typical sauna room’s interior. You’ll see elements like wooden benches, a heater filled with stones, and perhaps some accessories like a bucket and ladle for water. It’s designed to evoke the warm, relaxing atmosphere that saunas are known for. I hope you like it!
These are scarily accurate! A sauna design template: warm wooden benches, soft light, buckets, and towels. I'm expecting typical renders, and Copilot nailed it.
By the way... I've never been to a sauna LOL what is the clock and potted plant doing there?!
Now here comes my true intention.
My amended prompt: The interior of a typical sauna room, but cyberpunk style.
Copilot's reply: I’ve created an image with a cyberpunk twist on the interior of a typical sauna room. Imagine neon lights, futuristic technology integrated with the traditional wooden benches and heater, and a vivid color palette that brings a sci-fi edge to the relaxing sauna atmosphere. I hope it transports you to a world where tradition meets the future!
Initial thoughts? Something is lost here.
While these renders were convincingly cyberpunk designs, I couldn't register the space as a sauna. The only element that mildly suggests the room usage is the stepped benches.
The reason is simple: cyberpunk is fictional, i.e. not real. No one's truly lived in a cyberpunk city, let alone designed a sauna in this context.
AI does not have enough "sauna plus cyberpunk" references to base their creations from.
Now... The most dreaded question in the architectural profession.
Can Copilot help me design floor plans?
My prompt: Design a floor plan housing a living room, kitchen, dining area and bathroom.
At a glance, these visualisations are perfect(ly scary). Upon closer look, however...
AI doesn't seem to recognise spaces and furniture... and the relationship between these two. AI doesn't know the concepts of design pragmatism, practicality and logic.
These are not just bad designs... these are wrong designs. They are a messy mash of pretty renders.
Some floor plans kinda work... after an effort in tweaking them, of course.
More elaborations on a separate blog post.
Let's up the notch and challenge Copilot to more abstract design ideas.
My prompt: create images of a museum exhibition, showcasing the theme of sadness.
Gotta say I'm surprised at the results... in a good way. An interesting observation is the consistent design pattern between these images:
The dark aesthetics and moody ambient lighting. A centrepiece sculpture, crouching in a depressing stance. A willow tree art piece. Then the typical art and sculptures populate the canvas.
I think the drawings suggest more depressed emotions rather than sadness.
It doesn't matter as much, since emotions are relative. Everyone perceives things differently anyway; that's what makes us human.
Now, let's up the challenge.
My amended prompt: museum exhibition showcasing exhilaration
Copilot's reply: I apologize for any inconvenience, but it seems I made an error in my previous response. Unfortunately, I don’t have the capability to create an image of a museum exhibition showcasing exhilaration. However, if you have any other requests or need assistance with a different topic, feel free to ask, and I’ll be happy to assist! 😊
Huh, interesting. What do we think of this?
As mentioned in the earlier paragraph, emotions are relative... they are intangible. Sensations cannot be reduced to physical forms, which is why they are often represented in metaphors.
"Sadness" is a common feeling, one of the few emotions we're taught as kids. Over time, we learned "sadness" is represented by the colour blue, the gesture of a lowered head, the imagery of a teardrop... and the list goes on.
What about exhilaration?
I couldn't find a common theme or representation of "exhilaration" on Google. Artists are more likely to label such artwork "exciting" rather than "exhilarating" anyway.
Let's test this theory in another context.
What does AI Think of, and Interpreted Us as Humans?
I write novels during my spare time... And for years, the characters have been graphically ambiguous. Their distinctive features remain mere words, dwelling in my imagination.
Now that I'm aware of Copilot's capability, I decided to let AI sketch my vision of the main character, Abigail.
My prompt: Create an image of a young woman's face. She has short blonde hair, split at her right side. She has golden eyes. Give her a serious, warrior-like expression. Add three ear cuffs to her left ear.
I'm sold... because they are legitimately typical covers of young adult novels. While it's incredible that Copilot captured most of my requests, they aren't as precise as described.
"Hair split at her right side. Three ear cuffs to her left ear."
The girls have their shiny blonde hair split at different sides. They have more than three accessories... and on both ears! Also, I'm unsure of the white line splitting the first girl's face.
My amended prompt: Please simplify the ear accessories. Change the cuffs to simple, silver ear cuffs. The cuffs are only on one ear, not two.
What has changed? None of my comments, clearly. Still plenty of decorative cuffs on both ears... at least they were silver now. The middle line also stayed, this time evolving to a more sophisticated design LOL.
My conclusion?
AI knows what ear cuffs are. What it couldn't recognise is its precise quality and quantification, like "three" "simple" silver ear cuffs.
It also doesn't recognise what's what: the splitting line is the evidence. This line happened to be in the render, and since there's no instruction to remove it... it just carries forward.
It's possible AI doesn't even know the line shouldn't be there.
Moving on... What about the rest of Abigail?
AI and Fashion Design
My characters don't wear uniforms, and I'm not a fashion fanatic. So when it comes to their clothes, the extent of my elaboration is only its main colours and a few major features. Such as Abigail's outfit:
My prompt: Generate images of a female warrior outfit in army green as the main colour, others are gold. The top piece is for the torso, in long sleeves. The lower part is a pair of long trousers.
Interestingly, Copilot only generated three images instead of the usual four. I wonder why...
I don't input many concrete instructions, so Copilot has a free reign of creativity... And the results are Spot. On. I love them!
The shoulder pads, arm guards, holsters by the thigh... Just the basics one would wear to combat, if you Googled enough (as well as binged movies and TV's).
Do they resemble Loki's outfit? Absolutely. His Asgardian leather armour is my main reference point when envisaging Abigail's looks.
These support my previous theory:
AI works best if it has plenty of known references on the Internet. An example is the keywords combination of green, warrior, and outfit.
How does AI perceive Minecraft? Or, specifically... Hermitcraft?
A quarter of this blog, mypassion.mythoughts, is dedicated to Minecraft... Specifically Hermitcraft under the name hermitcraft.snippets. It's a sin not to introduce this wholesome community LOL!
My prompt: Create chess pieces using Minecraft [character, Steve.]
Let's just say Copilot couldn't understand me...
It shows Steve, Minecraft's main playable character, hanging out with giant chess pieces.
What Copilot got right, though, is my response towards these AI-generated images: crossing my arms in frustration.
These images are not what I typed! My initial thoughts were aligned with the Minecraft chess set, officially sold via Minecraft Shop... you know, chess pieces, but using Minecraft characters.
I thought my prompt was clear enough! Let me know if it doesn't, maybe I cannot English that day LOL
I'll pen more detailed thoughts in another blog post, so stay tuned!
We're close to the end of the article. What are my observations and conclusions about AI-generated images?
AI cannot create something that's not on the Internet.
To put it bluntly, I don't think it can create something new... Something unique: an idea that's never been done before, if not rarely.
Even when I am after a relatively conventional art, I almost never use them as the final result... Simply because they are not meticulous enough to curate all of my specific requirements.
It's a human skill to try to comprehend one's request.
I reckon you could break your prompt into smaller parts, and then manually patch the AI images together like a collage. Take the Minecraft prompt as an example.
AI-generated images may be pretty, but they lack soul.
Still, if you've poured all your linguistic capabilities to spell out your prompt... You need to be specific and generic at the same time. Or be specific with your request to expect a generic return.
Confused? Good luck, for I'm confused too. Maybe read my ear cuff test again? Haha.
The main advantage of using AI-generated images is their speed.
I received four images in less than a minute. Imagine the amount of "art" generated if I were to use AI full-time, 8 hours a day. That's 1,920 images!
P/S The irony, I ditched my maths and used the calculator straightaway because AI is faster hahahahahahhahaaaa... Which once again proved my point!
By using AI, we skipped the entire trial-and-error, mock-up time frame. No more redo's, no more "Eureka" moments.
Suddenly, the design thinking process--the journey that moulds a designer into who they will be--doesn't matter anymore.
Now I understand why the art community is fuming over AI-generated images. Their hard work is being used but not credited... even worse, not getting paid and risk losing their job.
AI-generated Images are Ideal for Precedent Studies.
Something quick and generic to draw your inspiration from.
Something... last minute?
Something (kinda) reliable, if you don't have high expectations.
I honestly won't call myself an artist for using AI to produce *my* drawings. Are they even mine to begin with?!
It's been 10 minutes, so let's wrap up.
Since I'm finishing this article... I need a thumbnail. Let's get cheeky, yea?
My final prompt: Generate images of a blog post thumbnail about trying out copilot.
Uh... Okay? Haha! Talk about ending a writing humorously!
Have you tried Copilot yourself? Let me know your opinions. Hit me up if there are any interesting ideas you'd like Copilot to try!
Thank you for reading and see you in the next blog post!
Disclaimer:
This is not an ad sponsor blog post. Kindly contact mypassion.mythoughts for any queries.
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