In the meantime, @ iceghost occasionally makes short videos on technique, so you might find something useful from her, too.

May I DM you?

Every computer program is limited by people who develop it, so it's not like adding more and more highly specific algorithms will eventually make a perfect Al. I think the main problem now is a combination of lack of technological innovations and an unwillingness to financially support their growth.

I'm becoming more conviced that Al is plateauing because the only real way to make it look better is with a human eye & labor to adjust for it, which those companies don't want to pay for, not even for someone to use a stock photo and then slightly alter it to resemble Al in order to hype an update.

Also, from the press releases I've seen, the image resolution that's used in their examples tends to be low and a quick zoom in always makes what seems at first to be subtle flaws into obvious ones. In fact, the more I've learned to spot the weaknesses, the easier they are to find, even in updates.

I don't know if you'd be interested but I happen to have a series on drawing (as I used to practice years ago) saved that I could put on a USB for you to check out. Covers everything from proportions to value, texture, pictorial space, and so on.

🖤

Full discussion:

youtu.be/eYW0Iy5jUcw?...

and all of the arguments we made 5 yrs ago in this paper about why the idea of robot rights relies on faulty assumptions about the nature of human cognition and intelligence still hold

Robot Rights?: Let's Talk about Human Welfare Instead dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1...

I try to analyze Al by covering portions of the screen so I can view it in sections instead.
Videos rarely get subtle human anatomy right, e.g. consistent, individualized features like ear shapes or neck muscle movement, while still images tend have architrecture and/or vanishing points in disarray.

And this results in parents who, in rushing to cling to their social comforts, leave their child behind while at the same time blaming the child for being the one who has taken their child away from them by becoming someone else, someone they don't or can't recognize anymore and is therefore exiled.

So, instead of reflecting on and acknowledging where the pressure is coming from, some parents interpret the unconscious social pressure from society as coming from their child, and so consciously blame the child for being the source or victim of the threat to their normal life and its benefits.

Considering how easy it is for some parents to kneejerk themselves into "how could this happen to us, normal people?" when their kid comes out as trans and how that culture/class/status shock can get twisted into feelings of loss and estrangement, their reaction can end up legitimizing lots of harm.

Basically a very warm and fragrant but not overpowering oakmoss with some earthy and slightly spicy notes. Works really well on top of unscented moisturizer.

I've been a regular user of Lvnea, based out of Montreal, for many years. Forêt Dormante is a favorite of mine.