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MEET THE GEN AI ARTIST OF THIS BARBERSOCIETY MAGAZINE EDITION
AI expert Olivier Teepe is a visionary Dutch artist who is always pushing boundaries in his photography and digital art. After achieving his Master of Fine Arts and founding his own creative agency, Olivier became fascinated with the potential of AI and began experimenting with various AI tools and algorithms, embracing its power in art. He is now known for his unique blend of human intuition, photography and artificial intelligence, creating stunning works. Having also been involved as an artist in the further development of the well-known AI program DALL-E and gaining recognition for his AI art, he is invited nationally and internationally as a keynote speaker.
We are very honoured that he has contributed to this special edition of BarberSociety Magazine, the first AI-powered trade magazine in the Netherlands and beyond. Several images crafted and assisted by AI are his work, including the amazing cover of this Winter issue. We spoke with him about this intriguing and controversial topic and how AI enriches his art.
AI will never replace me, but rather makes me more and more valuable and unique
What is AI?
“An AI image is an image created with the help of computer-controlled intelligence. The software uses algorithms to create images that can for instance closely resemble real photos, yet can be completely generated by the computer. The AI learns from various real images to represent reality as accurately as possible. It is basically a prediction mode in it’s core.”
When did you first encounter AI?
“Back in 1991, we were working with a very small research team on AI at the Art School in Utrecht. At the time, it was about very simple predictive models on an IBM computer that you could converse with. In the years that followed, I experimented a bit; making video clips, researching things, testing beta editing programmes, etc. My interest in innovative technologies was sparked then and has always been present since then.
About two years ago, I was invited by OpenAI to join the Artist Program to extensively beta test DALL-E (ed.:anAIthatcan generateimagesfromtext)and to examine and take out biases in terms of diversity and inclusivity. Adjustments needed to be made before the public launch. Since last year, AI development has accelerated massively, millions of people are using ChatGPT, and we are already working with the DALL-E 3 program. Interesting detail: DALL-E 2 was trained on a dataset of 12 trillion (!) images.”
Fear of this new technological development?
“We knew AI would change art, but at what cost? There are ethical issues, such as biases and copyrights. Some in the cultural sector don’t see it as art, but as a trick.Back in the time of paintings, this was also said about early photography. But think about Photoshop. Photographers quickly discovered that it was a very useful tool. Fear of new technology has always been there. My humble opinion? Fully embrace what’s new and might look threatening. AI will never replace me, but rather makes me more and more valuable and unique. With AI, you discover new insights that you might have overlooked. It accelerates your creative process and can provide inspiration. However human expertise and decision-making remain crucial. In short, I see AI as a fantastic creative partner in the form of just a tool.”
How did you start using AI in your work?
“The fact that my brain was stimulated by the idea that I could create images with a predictive model made me think: ‘What if I could train an AI with my own photography?’ Every time I wanted something that didn’t exist yet, and in the weeks and months that followed, it would be developed. I wanted to integrate all the knowledge and experience I had gained into one way of creating where I wanted to maintain full control over every single pixel, color, light, and material.
Kickstart.ai commissioned me to create a series of four unique works in tangible form of numbered signed fine art prints (‘The Dimensions of Belonging’). In addition, I create limited edition fine art prints and AI artworks on commission from a curator. I also regularly receive invitations to speak as the Gen AI expert at international, and also national events. It’s actually just like in the barber profession, the more you do something with passion, the more you will master it.”
With AI, you have to ‘prompt’, what does that exactly mean?
“When creating images with Gen AI, you need to know exactly which words you use for the commands. This is called ‘Prompt Query Language’, a new language to ask AI precise questions and combine different prompts for the desired result. Formulating prompts correctly in the right order is an art in itself. Without experience, it’s really difficult to achieve the exact desired result.”
What are the benefits of co-creation with AI?
“We are now at a tipping point where on one hand you can save enormous costs of production with AI and on the other hand often also achieve a better creative end result. This means you have more budget left for research, concept, Big idea, and process. We can train our private model on literally any niche area for a brand and then create infinite images for, for example campaign and communication purposes.
Imagine: you train an empty AI with 10,000 hair collections. You therefore create a unique AI model that is able to generate images of hairstyles based on recent datasets, unlike most open AI systems that work with rapidly ageing datasets. You could also train an AI with a dataset purely focused on hair. Think of texture, model, cutting styles. That way, it becomes the best tool of its kind. Training solely on your own (and owned) data is also called ‘Private AI’. It’s more authentic, nuanced, and efficient than public AI. This technology is customised, each application is unique. So you do need a high technical expertise team and strategic content marketing insights for that.”
What are the dangers of AI?
“Dangers include identity fraud, for example. Also consider cloning an entire instagram account of, say, a well-known barber including voice, videos and photos which is thus totally fake but with which someone with bad intentions can get things done. Even an entire barbershop can be digitally created in AI. Just check out the barbershops in this edition at ‘Barbers & the City Tokyo’. In addition, hair collections can be created in AI and submitted for competitions. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish what’s real and what’s fake.
And then there is the copyrights story. AI’s can be trained on all kinds of images such as works of art. These are images that may be protected and for which no permission has been given by the creator for use. The chance that AI creates something identical is small. But the risk exists that it creates something that resembles the style of an artist. This has already led to lawsuits in the UK and USA. Countries are now investigating how to deal with this.”
Meanwhile, you are partnering with a private AI startup, Signature.ai. Can you tell us something about that?
“I want to create unique work together with AI, but preferably without connection to the internet, like open AI does, for example. In a close collaboration with a team of design and AI specialists, the Signature.ai model was developed. This allows you to have your own AI trained per brand, in a secure environment where the copyrights of all creations are with you as the brand. Part of our approach is ‘Human in the Loop’, which means that expert human input is always needed; always a creative director and someone from the legal team who thinks along live and protects what you want to develop and create.
As a creative consultant, I now support international luxury brands with AI solutions. I help them with everything from advice to concept to production. Think of print and digital advertising campaigns, instore materials, and online expressions. This increases the quality of their work and saves huge costs. And makes everything ultimately measurable.”
Many people feel threatened by AI and what it means for their profession. What is your take on this?
“If you haven’t started exploring and embracing AI in the past year, you risk being left behind or even replaced. Think of the creative sector, such as photography, voice acting, journalism, coding, and design, but also in the medical world. For example, AI can start recognising early disease states, such as cancer or Alzheimer’s, much more accurately than humans.
Whether barbers can be replaced? I don’t see that happening at all. Many people see their barber as a trustworthy person with whom you have a chat, share a laugh and a tear. Just basically like a pub owner. Emotion, empathy and sheer creativity are human traits that cannot be replaced by AI.”
I encourage you to try to understand AI
How do you think AI could be applied in a barbershop?
“It can help you with insights, customer contact, newsletters, and social media. It can automate and forecast your appointments and send reminders with even more know-how and intelligence than the current systems. It can even go further with personalized skincare and haircare advice, facial analyses, and personal advice.
I am also thinking, for example, of a beard trimmer that recognises your customer’s hair length, hair type and preferred hairstyle and automatically adjusts it accordingly. Or a mirror that shows different hairstyles that would suit the customer. AI can even predict what your customers need; what are they missing, what do they really want, what products does a customer need? So dive into the world of AI, it can only give you insights.”
What’s next?
“There is no turning back. AI is developing rapidly, also in video, music, voice and integrated solutions. By the time you read this, and the ink is dry, there will already be new developments. AI is providing a giant technological leap forward and is a great tool for all kinds of tasks. I encourage you to try to understand AI and work with it in a way that is positive for the future, humanity and the planet.”
Check out all the images Olivier created with help of A.I. in the winter issue of BarberSociety Magazine.
More information:
@shotbyolivier
