{"id":10133,"date":"2026-06-13T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T00:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/?p=10133"},"modified":"2026-06-13T18:25:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T18:25:26","slug":"ai-art-and-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/ai-art-and-me\/","title":{"rendered":"AI Art and Me"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/art-truth-and-reflecting\/#facets\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20160505ff\/20160708Hangar7-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Brian H. Gill's 'Hangar 7'. (2016) This scene uses Nightshift3D's Sci-Fi Hangar. Inside are Serrge's PPU - T2000 and SRB 800, Stonemason\/Stefan Morrell's Sci-Fi Crates 'N Cylinders, 3dwizard's Star Brigade - Total Package, Wedge Cut 2.0 and figure by DAZ. I tweaked several of the surface textures, particularly Serrge's and Stonemason's. The original textures for both are fine: but I had something specific in mind for this scene. As usual, I did my own lighting and 'camera work.'\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">My &#8220;Hangar 7&#8221;. (2016)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Oddly enough, that picture was not made with or by AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I didn&#8217;t do all the work that went into &#8220;Hangar 7&#8221;. Nikola Tesla, Michael Faraday, and a whole mess of other folks developed the alternating current<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/ai-art-and-me\/#1\">1<\/a><\/sup> that ran my computer back in 2016. The computer: the roots of today&#8217;s information tech is a great many more topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anyway, I didn&#8217;t develop any of the technology involved in making &#8220;Hangar 7&#8221;. All I did was take 3D models made by a number of folks:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Nightshift3D<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Serrge<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Stonemason and Stefan Morrell<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>3dwizard<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I used at least one DAZ model, too. That&#8217;s the company that developed DAZ 3D, software I used for placing and adjusting models, and rendering the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I tweaked several of the surface textures, particularly Serrge&#8217;s and Stonemason&#8217;s. The original textures for both are fine: but I had something specific in mind for this scene. As usual, I did my own lighting and &#8216;camera work&#8217;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, how come I claim copyright on that image?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Basically, it&#8217;s because the DAZ user agreement says that it&#8217;s okay, in cases like this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Besides, I <strong>did<\/strong> adjust how their surfaces reflect (virtual) light. I also set them in the places you see, worked (at length) on getting the (virtual) lighting the way I wanted it. Finally, I placed, pointed, and adjusted the (virtual) camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As I see it, it&#8217;s like someone taking objects made by other folks, stacking them in a pile near the Chrysler Building in New York City, taking a picture of them with the skyscraper in the background, and claiming copyright on the photo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"intellectual\"><\/a>Intellectual Property Rights<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Actually, that may not be a good example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Chrysler Building appeared in &#8220;Marvel&#8217;s Spider-Man&#8221; (2018), but not in other Spider-Man movies and at least one video game.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/ai-art-and-me\/#2\">2<\/a><\/sup> I gather that the skyscraper changed hands, and the new owner objected. Seems that trademark licensing and architectural copyright issues were in play. Those are rabbit holes I&#8217;m not going to jump down. Not this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the other hand, the virtual models and software I used while putting that picture together are sold\/provided (another legal tangle) with the understanding that folks are going to use them the way I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So I&#8217;m not going to fret over the remote possibility that hordes of lawyers are going to line up, in hopes of extracting \u2014 I&#8217;d better stop now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, a tip of the hat to someone I talked with on Monday. He&#8217;s a digital artist who is none too fond of how AI is being used. His complaint isn&#8217;t the newfangled technology. It&#8217;s folks telling AI to slap together something, taking the assembled bits and pieces of other folks&#8217; work that the software found, and saying &#8216;I made this&#8217;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I see his point, and agree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I also agree with what one of my daughters said. AI has been bothering her because so many folks are taking AI entirely too seriously. That&#8217;s a topic I could discuss: heatedly and at length. But I won&#8217;t, since I&#8217;ve been taking it easy this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Basically, I see AI as a very promising new technology. Whether each of us uses it to help or hurt: that&#8217;s up to each of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My oldest daughter, reading this, said: &#8220;You spent most of the article talking about how you made that one image and didn&#8217;t really connect it to the AI topic.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She&#8217;s right, and I&#8217;d say more, but as I said: I&#8217;ve been taking it easy.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/chatgpt-attorney-at-law-or-trust-but-verify\/#two\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20200519ff\/20201101-Hagar-1973-02-25-EndOfCivilizationAsWeKnowIt-s-l1600-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Dik Browne's 'Hagar the Horrible:' 'It may be the end of civilization as we know it.' (February 25, 1973)\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Besides, I&#8217;ve talked about AI, people, and making sense before:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/bart-drivers-and-the-importance-of-being-human\/\"><strong>BART Drivers and the Importance of Being Human<\/strong><\/a>&#8221; (February 8, 2025)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/bart-drivers-and-the-importance-of-being-human\/#train\">The Train That Left Its Human Behind<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/bart-drivers-and-the-importance-of-being-human\/#seriously\">Seriously?<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/bart-drivers-and-the-importance-of-being-human\/#humans\">Humans: A Brief Meditation on Kids, Commuters, and Molten Ice Cream<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/chatgpt-attorney-at-law-or-trust-but-verify\/\"><strong>ChatGPT, Attorney at Law \u2014 or \u2014 Trust, but Verify<\/strong><\/a>&#8221; (June 3, 2023)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/chatgpt-attorney-at-law-or-trust-but-verify\/#big\">Big-Time Bungle: Bogus References<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/chatgpt-attorney-at-law-or-trust-but-verify\/#using\">Using Our Brains: It&#8217;s an Option<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/chatgpt-attorney-at-law-or-trust-but-verify\/#changing\">Changing Times, Human Nature<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/chatgpt-and-the-end-of-civilization-as-we-know-it\/\"><strong>ChatGPT and the End of Civilization as We Know It<\/strong><\/a>&#8221; (April 15, 2023)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/chatgpt-and-the-end-of-civilization-as-we-know-it\/#search\">Search Engines, Iron Gall Ink and Me<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/chatgpt-and-the-end-of-civilization-as-we-know-it\/#itcan\">&#8220;It Can Only be Attributable to Human Error&#8221;<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/chatgpt-and-the-end-of-civilization-as-we-know-it\/#from\">From &#8220;I Read it in a Book&#8221; to &#8220;I Saw it Online&#8221;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-black-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-black-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><sup><a name=\"1\"><\/a>1<\/sup> (Electric) power to the people:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Alternating_current\">Alternating current<\/a> (&#8220;This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. &#8230;&#8221;)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Electric_power_transmission\">Electric power transmission<\/a> (&#8220;This article has multiple issues. &#8230; The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (March 2026)&#8221;)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Nikola_Tesla\">Nikola Tesla<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/War_of_the_currents\">War of the currents<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><sup><a name=\"2\"><\/a>2<\/sup> Arguably winner of &#8220;the Award for Best Supporting Skyscraper&#8221;:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chrysler_Building\">Chrysler Building<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chrysler_Building#In_media\">In media<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oddly enough, that picture was not made with or by AI. I didn&#8217;t do all the work that went into &#8220;Hangar 7&#8221;. Nikola Tesla, Michael Faraday, and a whole mess of other folks developed the alternating current1 that ran my &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/ai-art-and-me\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"AI, artificial intelligence, is a new, unfamiliar, and scary technology. It's been misused, but I think the problem is people, not the tech.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"AI Art and Me: a Brief Look","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[214,192],"tags":[23,149,190],"class_list":["post-10133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-being-an-artist","category-journal","tag-art","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-information-technology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Dwtw-2Dr","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10133"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10144,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10133\/revisions\/10144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}