#the good kind of AI

[montereybayaquarium]

Gaming for the good of our ocean 🎮📱🌊

Have you played @fathomverse yet? This cozy sci-non-fi game for ocean explorers was created by our research and technology partners @mbari-blog . By playing you can interact with real underwater images to improve the artificial intelligence that helps researchers study ocean life. 

Now available for download on the App Store and Google Play! Read more at https://mbayaq.co/FathomVerse

📸:@mbari-blog

[ink-the-artist]

Video game I saw in a dream. It was in this low poly style like an older video game. You play as this character I think was meant to be a lamb, or maybe a weird mix of a lamb a mouse and a rabbit, (while not really looking like any of those things) and you’re running away from a wolf. Your objective is to last as long as possible before the wolf catches and eats you.

The house you’re running in is endless and bizarrely put together like most building interiors in dreams are (like the infinite toilet dream dimension on Reddit lol) the layout of the house is pretty detailed, you can stop and hide in places like closets or bins while the wolf looks for you, you can go up and down stairs and into rooms etc.

You never actually know where the wolf is or how close it is to you until it appears in your line of sight, it makes no noise and the game gives you no way of knowing where it is, and it’s pretty unpredictable it doesnt move at a consistent pace. When the wolf catches you there’s an animation showing it eating your character

[inkskinned]

at some point it's just like. do they even fucking like the thing they're asking AI to make? "oh we'll just use AI for all the scripts" "we'll just use AI for art" "no worries AI can write this book" "oh, AI could easily design this"

like... it's so clear they've never stood in the middle of an art museum and felt like crying, looking at a piece that somehow cuts into your marrow even though the artist and you are separated by space and time. they've never looked at a poem - once, twice, three times - just because the words feel like a fired gun, something too-close, clanging behind your eyes. they've never gotten to the end of the movie and had to arrive, blinking, back into their body, laughing a little because they were holding their breath without realizing.

"oh AI can mimic style" "AI can mimic emotion" "AI can mimic you and your job is almost gone, kid."

... how do i explain to you - you can make AI that does a perfect job of imitating me. you could disseminate it through the entire world and make so much money, using my works and my ideas and my everything.

and i'd still keep writing.

i don't know there's a word for it. in high school, we become aware that the way we feel about our artform is a cliche - it's like breathing. over and over, artists all feel the same thing. "i write because i need to" and "my music is how i speak" and "i make art because it's either that or i stop existing." it is such a common experience, the violence and immediacy we mean behind it is like breathing to me - comes out like a useless understatement. it's a cliche because we all feel it, not because the experience isn't actually persistent. so many of us have this ... fluttering urgency behind our ribs.

i'm not doing it for the money. for a star on the ground in some city i've never visited. i am doing it because when i was seven i started taking notebooks with me on walks. i am doing it because in second grade i wrote a poem and stood up in front of my whole class to read it out while i shook with nerves. i am doing it because i spent high school scribbling all my feelings down. i am doing it for the 16 year old me and the 18 year old me and the today-me, how we can never put the pen down. you can take me down to a subatomic layer, eviscerate me - and never find the source of it; it is of me. when i was 19 i named this blog inkskinned because i was dramatic and lonely and it felt like the only thing that was actually permanently-true about me was that this is what is inside of me, that the words come up over everything, coat everything, bloom their little twilight arias into every nook and corner and alley

"we're gonna replace you". that is okay. you think that i am writing to fill a space. that someone said JOB OPENING: Writer Needed, and i wrote to answer. you think one raindrop replaces another, and i think they're both just falling. you think art has a place, that is simply arrives on walls when it is needed, that is only ever on demand, perfect, easily requested. you see "audience spending" and "marketability" and "multi-line merch opportunity"

and i see a kid drowning. i am writing to make her a boat. i am writing because what used to be a river raft has long become a fully-rigged ship. i am writing because you can fucking rip this out of my cold dead clammy hands and i will still come back as a ghost and i will still be penning poems about it.

it isn't even love. the word we use the most i think is "passion". devotion, obsession, necessity. my favorite little fact about the magic of artists - "abracadabra" means i create as i speak. we make because it sluices out of us. because we look down and our hands are somehow already busy. because it was the first thing we knew and it is our backbone and heartbreak and everything. because we have given up well-paying jobs and a "real life" and the approval of our parents. we create because - the cliche again. it's like breathing. we create because we must.

you create because you're greedy.

[reasonsforhope]

"The world’s coral reefs are close to 25% larger than we thought. By using satellite images, machine learning and on-ground knowledge from a global network of people living and working on coral reefs, we found an extra 64,000 square kilometers of coral reefs — an area the size of Ireland.

That brings the total size of the planet’s shallow reefs (meaning 0-20 meters deep) to 348,000 square kilometers — the size of Germany. This figure represents whole coral reef ecosystems, ranging from sandy-bottomed lagoons with a little coral, to coral rubble flats, to living walls of coral.

Within this 348,000 km² of coral is 80,000 km² where there’s a hard bottom — rocks rather than sand. These areas are likely to be home to significant amounts of coral — the places snorkelers and scuba divers most like to visit.

You might wonder why we’re finding this out now. Didn’t we already know where the world’s reefs are?

Previously, we’ve had to pull data from many different sources, which made it harder to pin down the extent of coral reefs with certainty. But now we have high resolution satellite data covering the entire world — and are able to see reefs as deep as 30 meters down.

We coupled this with direct observations and records of coral reefs from over 400 individuals and organizations in countries with coral reefs from all regions, such as the Maldives, Cuba and Australia.

To produce the maps, we used machine learning techniques to chew through 100 trillion pixels from the Sentinel-2 and Planet Dove CubeSat satellites to make accurate predictions about where coral is — and is not. The team worked with almost 500 researchers and collaborators to make the maps.

The result: the world’s first comprehensive map of coral reefs extent, and their composition, produced through the Allen Coral Atlas.

The maps are already proving their worth. Reef management agencies around the world are using them to plan and assess conservation work and threats to reefs...

In good news, these maps are already leading to real world change. We’ve already seen new efforts to conserve coral reefs in Indonesia, several Pacific island nations, Panama, Belize, Kenya and Australia, among others."

-via GoodGoodGood, May 2, 2024

--

Note: You can see the maps yourself by going here!

[lesbinewren]

not surprising but still wild that google added an ai feature to the very top of every single searches that gives incorrect information more often than not. like a beloved restaurant that randomly starts topping all of their food with cyanide one day for no reason. no you’re not allowed to ask them to not top your dish with cyanide this is the future of food

[a-small-writer-in-a-big-world]

I hate people who are like “AI allows me to do these things I wanted to do but can’t because I suck at it” do you think that every person before AI didn’t suck at what they were good at? Do you think it’s worth stealing other people’s passions so you can pretend you’re good at something instead of trying?

[endivinity]

Would you be ok with indivituals using some of your fallouty unique deathclaws and other creature drawings as references when theyre running a private Fallout TTRPG campaign amongst friends?

Totally ok if youre not fine with that! I just wanted to check.

it may be possibly time for another long-winded explanation that will enrage precisely two people who will send me weird anon hate over it because they don't understand the notion of transformative works but - It's hard to state in plain terms what I am and aren't comfortable with people using my art for, because even for me there's a lot of handwavey 'am i really uncomfortable with this or is it just a kneejerk reaction' kind of thing with a lot of caveats

there's often a pretty big disconnect between what people view as references - some people will view it as a single image, like "for reference, this is what it looks like" and slap the art down on the table for their players to go WHOAAAA over (repost blogs tend to do this). For an artist doing this, it's usually as a study, or results in a pretty obvious 1:1 because the idea they're pulling from isn't diluted across a range of things.

The other use of reference is several images and enough of your own personal touch to put a unique spin on all of them in a cohesive artwork or design. This is the bit that a lot of people stumble over, because they go 'but I like this thing only' and don't want to venture beyond that. If you're able to not only pull a range of artworks, but a range of artworks by different artists, immense kudos to you. The way I construct deathclaws is from an immense knowledge of weird animals and different media. For instance, Spectral makes use of a deathclaw, a ghost leviathan from subnautica, a xenomorph, and the understanding of vestigial limbs, bioluminescence, diaphanized tissue, and opalization. Transforming this in a tabletop might therefore look like the image itself, but then adding say the aquatic spinosaurus theory in there and making it swim out of an irradiated lake with a paddle tail and a huge back crest. And a bigger mouth with worse teeth that can strip a human's arm down to the bone in one degloving bite. You don't necessarily have to be able to draw it (I'm in a bit of a niche and therefore shouldn't hold everyone to my same standards) but it also says good things about your ability to host a tabletop game if you're able to be creative with the unique ideas you put in it and your ability to visualize and describe them. Embrace that. (Some of the kickback against this was people going 'well artists do this all the time, they take other artists' works for their references, that's part of the industry standard' but that's the point of transformative works and not typically modern tabletop gaming. I'm also just one person doing this. I'm not an industry professional, I'm not a huge company for which my works are publicly available in an immensely popular IP. It may be fanart and I don't own deathclaws, but I still own all rights to the art itself. Some people (that one really furiously angry anon in particular) hold me to the same standard as if I was representative of Bethesda Softworks itself and therefore it's right and proper to take my shit, because it's deathclaws, and all deathclaws are Bethesda's, and I wouldn't be this popular without that, I should expect people to take my stuff, it's the internet - I am just one person making fanart. and I am very tired.) I think the biggest problem I have with people taking my designs for TTRPG assets is that it's the only reaction they have sometimes. the 'wow cool! can I take this?' reaction akin to a little child shoving things in their mouth. That doesn't reflect well on you, and for the artist it doesn't feel good. And most tabletop gaming these days is casual sessions that usually center around getting the campaign itself done with little creativity beyond what the players bring to the table, which results in using other peoples' art they found on google without being creative about it at all, which is why you'll see a lot of artists who have beef with it, because it also doesn't feel good. All this to say - if you ask and are respectful and credit back, it still feels weird to me, but like... sure! I do this for fun and to express creativity, so if it encourages other people to also have fun and express their creativity, I'd feel bad saying no to an earnest request! It's fanart, we're all fans here, etc But also most people who aren't respectful won't ask, won't be creative, or will get mad when I say Can You Don't, so I'm kinda preaching to the wrong crowd here - to those people, you're right, I can't stop you from doing it anyway. but it will not put you in my good books

[nonbinary-octopus]

another concept that I think would be interesting to explore in fic, is What do the Rimworld colonists think of the player?

What are you to them?

You design the colony, and they will build everything you lay out, no questions asked.

You decide what their priorities should be, and even if you make stupid decisions that put their lives in danger, they will follow that order without question.

You can give them a long to-do list, and the only reason they'll stop before completing it (aside from you telling them to stop), is if they physically cannot continue, because they're ready to collapse of hunger or exhaustion. Or are in such a bad mood they have a mental break.

Why are they so willing to obey you? What are you, that they trust you so unflinchingly, and let you dictate their lives?

You are capable of being in multiple places at once, as demonstrated when part of the colony is in a caravan several days' travel away, and yet you can instruct both groups in the same moment.

Time does not flow over you the same way that it does the colonists. There are times where you notice things too late, yes, but there are also times when, the very moment disaster strikes, you have a plan as though you were able to deliberate for hours during the span of a breath.

You have not aged. You were here when the first pod crash-landed, you bore witness as their children were born, you watched over them as they grew into adults, and you were there still, as your first colonists reached reached old age. You will be there for as many generations as exist in this land.

What are you?

[earththings]

[hiddenmoonbeam]

some info to everyone who doesn't want to reblog uncredited and reposted fanart

-if the username is new to you, take a look at the blog. I have found this quite easily shows me it's not a/the real artist posting (which can help with ai art too!). these people often repost from various artists so the styles don't match, and you might even find some you recognise.

-another thing is to look for a signature or url in the actual picture. in ai art text tend to not make sense, as far as I've noted. and with real art that's been reposted, the signature of course won't match the repost.

while not every artist adds such signatures, right now there are at least two wolfstar art posts circulating that both have usernames in them that don't match the reposter username. this one here belongs to regglilbean who has their own tumblr post, and this one says lupeymoony though the user seems to have deleted most of their art posts.

both these reposts are made by the same account, and I already told this person back in december that it's theft to repost art without credit, and that many artists don't want their art reposted at all. so they know, yet are reposting again now. sometimes with credit, but it's those without that seem to be getting notes. my guess is because in these cases people don't realise it's reposted art, so I just want to make this to let at least some of you know about it!

[sciderman]

How do you feel about the increase in really weird NSFW ads on here (advertising panels that look like sexual encounters, and AI art apps that pride themselves on porn) but will take down NSFW posts from their users, even if it isn't technically sexual.

i hate all social media and it's consistent prioritising the advertisers over the users and the internet simply was a better place before capitalism sunk its hooks into it

[tvckerwash]

I hc wash and south (and by proxy, north) as all being ODSTs prior to pfl and one thing I really like about hcing them as such is that it adds another layer of depth to why they were all chosen to be a part of the recovery force.

ODSTs are a special forces unit within the marines, and they're generally used as force amplifiers and in high risk or sensitive operations. two such scenarios include the recovery or recapture of personal and high level assets behind enemy lines, as well as deep reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. ODSTs are also used in politically sensitive operations, which pfl was following the crash of the moi.

so basically, who better to be on the recovery force than former ODSTs who already have a background doing the kind of work that would need to be done?

this also adds to some of the tension between north and south as well imo, as while they're a great team who are capable of working together they clearly have two very different skillsets—south is not portrayed as someone who has the patience necessary for long reconnaissance missions, and part of the reason why team b failed so spectacularly is because two snipers and an intelligence operative are not a good choice for a smash and grab mission. had north been replaced with south things would've probably went way better for them, because south is actually fairly similar to wash in her "get in, get it done, get out" mentality, though where wash comes off as more methodical and is willing to take that "wait and see" approach, south throws caution to the wind and has a "we'll cross that bridge when we get there" approach.

this is probably why wash and south were (on paper at least) going to get eta and iota—south would've benefited greatly from having an ai that was afraid and anxious as it would force her to slow down and think things through more, and wash getting an ai that was happy and cheerful would force him to loosen up a bit and be less high-strung and serious.

[hotwaterandmilk]

I was looking through some of my old scans from the first Wedding Peach manga volume to see if I had a copy of Peach's "Wedding Kick" attack when I got sidetracked by this part of the second chapter where Yuri and Hinagiku return from an evil vortex with the life sucked right out of them.

Peach can't believe her friends are really gone, but luckily she can harness the power of love and the pair are revived as Angel Lily and Angel Daisy. Hooray for the power of love!

It's honestly kind of horrific in retrospect that the heroine of a kids' comic was faced with her two best friends dying in her arms in the 2nd chapter. But it's no big deal, everyone! Lily and Daisy don't seem to notice and nobody ever mentions it again. Wheee!

I kind of love how things just sort of *happen* in these media mix titles? I appreciate how you've got a group of creatives trying to figure things out with deadlines looming and not everything sticks. If the team decides not to make a big deal out of an event then they ignore it afterwards, or a hastily assembled magical weapon can be replaced with something more commercially viable down the track.

In this case it's just hey let's not bring up that time Yuri and Hinagiku were dragged lifeless out of an evil void and Peach gave them sparkly friendship sob-CPR or whatever until they were revived angelically... and stuff. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[hollypies]

Gman and his son, Tommy Coolatta!!!

Hrrngh, flowercrown ref redraw TWO!!

Even tho Gordon doesn't really know Gman, just due to being Tommy's dad he gets his own flower :) . Although none of Gmans flowers will sprout on Gordon himself, they are scattered around a few small spots of Black Mesa (any time Gman freezes time leaves these flowers)

Tommy was the second to last to remember the resets, and unlike the other times Gordon was killed by his friends, this one was accidental. During the fight with Gordon later, he's a bit easier on Tommy then the others.

[cremechees]

happy 520 <33

[sleeve-sleeve]

ok first murder drones now spooky month depression