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Boring Is The New Interesting

Josh Rose
The Generator
Published in
4 min readMay 16, 2023
Outside a store. Image by Josh S. Rose.

There’s just something kind of heartless about A.I., have you noticed? The engines get more advanced, the renders get more dynamic, but the feeling — it just kind of stays the same. Another beautiful render to forget about in 15 seconds.

It’s all too interesting. Or trying to be. The pool of images that A.I. pulls from is all showcased work. It’s like if you learned about sports only through highlight reels.

And we think pushing it to do more makes it better, with promts like: “insane detail,” “cinematic,” “like a movie,” or “last light of day.” This just leans into the problem.

Images created off of A.I. engines feel like attempts at perfection, with shallow depth-of-field, beautiful skin, rim light and drama. It’s too hard to relate to it.

The solution? Be boring.

Girl walks at school. Image by Josh S. Rose, 2023

This is the secret of all great film and stories. You don’t start with the final scene, you lead people there, step-by-step. And the first step? Establish ourselves someplace entirely normal.

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The Generator
The Generator

Published in The Generator

The Generator covers the emerging field of generative AI, with generative AI news, critical analysis, real-world tests and experiments, expert interviews, tool reviews, culture, and more

Josh Rose
Josh Rose

Written by Josh Rose

Filmmaker, photographer, artist and writer. Writing about creator life and observations on culture. Tips very very much appreciated: https://ko-fi.com/joshsrose

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