Is DALL-E 2 after your job?
Edition #01 of the new IndieFolio newsletter dives into AI text-to-image generators and the impact on creative jobs.
Editorial
Unless you live under a rock, you’ve probably heard of DALL-E.
While Open AI’s fancy software - a portmanteau of the Pixar character WALL-E and Salvador Dali - has captured the imagination of tech enthusiasts the world over, not everyone is smiling.
If you make a living as a designer, illustrator, photographer, or any of the creative domains, there’s a good chance that DALL-E 2 makes you a tad bit uncomfortable.
When DALL-E was unveiled in January 2021, it seemed harmless. The designs were like that of a 10-year-old honing their skills. At times it looked like those sketches your marketing colleague would send across instead of a well-written brief. To the marketers reading this, I mean no offence - merely jesting at my own expense (yes, I work in marketing too).
The images below are indicative of powerful software that is yet an amateur illustrator.
In 2011, Marc Andreessen of VC firm a16z wrote the now famous words “software is eating the world”. While this was in the context of technology companies disrupting traditional industries, over a decade later that prediction has very well shaped our present.
And now, that software has received an AI update.
This AI doesn’t just want to disrupt industries, it wants to take your job.
You might baulk at this. But the fact is, the second generation of DALL-E has graduated fast. In just over a year, it has gone from the refrigerator pin-up art of a 10-year-old to the machinations of a fairly good (if slightly eccentric) designer & illustrator.
That eccentric software can now create mind-blowing work across different styles.
“Portrait of an alien with Kodak Professional Portra 400 film stock, shot by Annie Leibovitz”
On a lighter note, one of the commenters of the above image suggested that DALL-E would have delivered the same image were the prompt “Dobby post-rehab tell-all memoir book cover photo”
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
“A lightbulb with a hyper-realistic human head filing the entire inside the glass”
FYI, that’s the look on my face when AI comes for my marketing job.
Btw, here’s a link to check out DALL-E’s Instagram.
So, will DALL-E 2 take your job?
During the Industrial Revolution, factory workers rebelled against owners who brought in sophisticated machinery to replace some of the manual labour. The resulting loss of jobs was minimal in comparison with the new jobs that were created as a result of productivity gains.
People were worried about computers too, but their infiltration of the business world has only created more work. Technological progress has always resulted in the creation of new jobs; just that these jobs required new skills.
While DALL-E 2 might possess the incredible ability of creation, it still lacks a lot of things that makes us humans good at what we do. We understand context, we have empathy, we know how to incorporate feedback, we are aware of constraints and guidelines, and a host of other things that make a large difference. Most importantly, we design for humans as humans ourselves.
Does this mean that AI will never reach advanced levels that could replace creatives?
I don’t think anyone has an answer to the question yet. If you ask me, I’m likely to say something along the lines of “Someday, we will not know whether we’re robots or humans”. But that’s just me; I’m a bit of a techno-pessimist.
Is DALL-E your friend?
In all seriousness, the way to look at technology such as DALL-E 2 isn’t with fear. Rather, it’s the latest aid in creative productivity.
It could bring down the cost of stock images, or conjure up images that aren’t available on Gettys or Shutterstocks of the world.
DALL-E 2 could be your jam companion helping with ideation, or a collaborator whose input you use to create the final product.
Technological innovation has greatly benefited those who learned how to harness it. As a creative, you’ll need to embrace it rather than become a detractor. Embed it in your workflow and use it as your personal creative assistant to do more, work faster, and test the limits of your imagination.
That’s all the existential dread we have for this week folks 😅. Oh wait, perhaps you should give Midjourney a look too. And how about Stable Diffusion?
Have thoughts on text-to-image generators?
The rest of this newsletter will be much more optimistic with opportunities for you to level up, stay sharp, find new opportunities, and get your work discovered.
Contribute to the IndieFolio Blog
IndieFolio is India’s largest community of creatives. Our managed marketplace and jobs board also caters to thousands of agencies, enterprises, and startups.
We’re inviting writers for our blog which is read by over 100,000+ designers, marketers, product managers, founders, and a host of other folks for whom design matters.
The topics we accept are broad; anything our audience (mentioned above) would care about is game. We also invite you to showcase your work as long as the focus is on sharing your process and learnings.
We’ll share more details over email. If you’re interested, drop your details below 👇
Opportunities on IndieFolio
There are numerous open briefs on IndieFolio for product design, graphic design, animation, 3D modelling, illustration, marketing content, and more. Here are some of the top briefs.
Ogilvy, one of India's biggest creative agencies, is looking for a Senior Art Director who can work on a campaign for a Travel and Luxury brand. Scope of work would include TVCs, Outdoor Marketing, In-Store branding, and all aspects of Social Media campaigns.
Pratilipi is looking for junior and senior storyboarding artists, sketching artists, and colour/inking artists to work with one of India's largest self-publishing storytelling platforms.
WWE has opportunities for a Senior Editor and Social Media Copywriter to work on the development of scripts, teasers, video packaging, and all things social media for WWE Now in India. Any (Under)takers?
Scaler Academy is looking for illustrators who have experience with anime-styled art to work on an end-to-end campaign. Say Konichiwa maybe?
IndieFolio IG is 🔥🔥
We might be biased, but our Instagram really is the go-to place for creative talent to level up, learn, and….discover memes.
Food for Thought
This week, we’re nerding out on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in the dark arts. Cough cough… we mean the creative space.
Could AI software such as DALL-E 2 or Midjourney replace humans?
VentureBeat writes about it and has an optimistic view
Here’s a thread on why a designer thinks AI isn’t there just yet.
This week’s read
If we’re all going to lose our jobs, might as well prep for it better 😅. Here’s what I’ll be reading this week.
Aaaannnd….that’s a wrap
That’s it, folks. Like all good things, this newsletter had to come to an end. But not before we leave you with something to light up your day.
Kidding again. Prepare to have your mind messed with.
The Trolley Problem
One of my favourite creative coders out there - Neal Agarwal - has yet another fun project. I’m afraid it might add to your existential dread, but what’s life without such conundrums?
Here’s a sampling of what’s ahead. Would you pull the trolley?