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AI-generated posters don’t have to be horrible

1902 points · 962 comments · ereiamjh

  1. vova_hn2 · · focus · HN ↗
    I find it kinda funny that even "smartest", most capable models often have a very hard time going beyond surface-level, top-of-mind associations, when faced with creative tasks.

    Of course, a "Japanese Minimal Poster" has a sakura and a stylized flag of Japan, duh

    A human designer would probably think that "Japan -> sakura" and "Japan -> Japanese flag" are way too obvious, too banal, too stereotypical, and, most importantly too boring. And then they would probably sit for a while and try to think of something fresher and less clichéd.

    But AI has absolutely no problem with going with the cheesiest, most overused trope.

    1. ereiamjh · · focus · HN ↗
      Author here.

      Well of course Spring + Japan = Sakura. In a way the model would be faulty if it didn't reach for that cliché. That's what it's meant to do.

      If you want originality, you need to supply it. AI fills the vacuum with the obvious thing.

      And in a way that's a feature. If I was creating a poster myself I'd think "nah, can't use sakura it's too obvious". AI gets you past that hurdle. "Yeah, we used the cliché, it looks nice, let's move on".

      This is if it's for a school fayre, village fête, etc. - brilliant originality isn't the goal. But it's nice when your poster doesn't look the same as three other posters on the same noticeboard (I have seen this).

      If brilliant originality is needed, a human has to bring it. Although an LLM with the temperature turned up can offer some nice seeds.

      1. iandanforth · · focus · HN ↗
        If you need pseudo-originality I have a skill for that: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;iandanforth&#x2F;force-associations" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;iandanforth&#x2F;force-associations
        1. gavmor · · focus · HN ↗
          Nice! I use an old madlibs library I built for D&amp;D: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;gavmor&#x2F;Dunmanifestin" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;gavmor&#x2F;Dunmanifestin
          1. johnsillings · · focus · HN ↗
            that&#x27;s very clever
            1. gavmor · · focus · HN ↗
              Thanks, it introduces a little &quot;jitter&quot; that keeps the egg from rolling down the same face of the ridge every time. Possibly, the same could be accomplished with a judicious application of the temperature parameter.

              But how to tell the model which section is supposed to be populated with spicy tokens?

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