It's safe to say that many of us are a little concerned about AI taking over, but graphic designer Pablo Delcan has come up with a creative (and human) alternative to AI image generators. With his man-powered art generator, Delcan uses human creativity to illustrate fan prompts, lovingly handcrafting diverse doodles using nothing more than black ink and a humble piece of paper.
While some fear that generative AI art is dangerous for creatives, Delcan's original generative art is a playful reminder that many of us still yearn for the human quality of traditional art. While AI has become a useful tool in our lives, Delcan demonstrates that it can't yet replace the intimacy of human connection.
Delcan began the project on Instagram, inviting prompts from his followers. After an increasing influx of requests he created Prompt-Brush – "The very first non-A.I. generative art model." The site's sleek design effortlessly parodies genuine AI models, while delightful details such as "97.0% insecurity" and 0 productivity on weekends give it a touch of comforting human imperfection.
Since its creation, Delcan has meticulously illustrated 340 prompts in total, with a growing list of queued designs in the pipeline. From "a festive cat pig" to simply "me", the prompts range in absurdity and obscurity. Speaking to PRINT, Delcan said that he enjoys the challenge of more abstract requests and aims to "create something that speaks to the prompt, so the image and the text compliment each other but aren’t redundant."
In a time when AI may feel like an increasing threat to traditional art, it's nice to see an artist find a creative way to poke a little fun. As we saw recently with the AI 'make it more' trend and pet portrait trend, there's certainly space for AI to be a tool for entertainment, not just a symbol of existential dread.
