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2024 SUMMER THEME: "A 'PERFECT' WORLD (AS SEEN BY AI)"
2024 SUMMER THEME: "A 'Perfect' World (As Seen By AI)" Over the years images on this website have been drawn from my own personal photographs, and photography has been a hobby of mine since high school. Early in 2024 I began trying out infrared photography and had hoped to build the 2024 summer site around some of those photographs. However, a cloudy spring complicated the situation, with too many days of imperfect light, and I was unable to build the base of photographs I would have hoped to use. In April, as I was getting a few things ready for the L.A. County Fair, I came across a mention of AI image generators. What initially caught my eye was that one of those image generators had a setting for creating images in a paper quilling style. Since paper quilling is an art I have been involved in for several years, I thought I would see what exactly an AI image generator was and how it was used. (This is discussed at greater length in the 2024 summer essay.) My first step was to sign up for OpenAI's Dall-E3, with elements of free use via Microsoft Bing. As I was soon to learn, there are many AI image generators available, including one called Midjourney and another called Imagine. What exactly do these AI image generators do? The most common function is text-to-image generation. The user types in a word or set of words, clicks a button, and an image or set of images (typically four square images at once) are generated within seconds. For example, I typed in the words Eiffel Tower with Olympic rings in quilling style, and two of the images received are pictured below. While the one on the left was good, the other one didn't get it exactly right.
As I began playing around with the image generator, I also noticed there was an anime style setting. For those visitors who have been with the site for a while, you may remember that just prior to the pandemic the site had themes for two summers dealing with anime, manga and comics. The pages of the site revolved around characters and a story I created called O-Gan and the Herons (which can still be found on the archived pages of the site and at www.o-ganandtheherons.net). All of the panels of the story were created with photo-based digital art, a process I still use for the images when new panels are created. However, at times I had imagined that it might be illustrated in an anime style. The two images below were generated from the words blue heron talking to a brown-haired girl dressed in yellow in anime style. The images produced were almost perfect in depicting what I had imagined the characters might look like, though the AI-produced images are not eligible for copyright (more about that in the summer essay).
Most of the free-use image generators allow only a certain number of images to be created, and with the alloted images I began experimenting with words and styles, including generating photo-like images. What I found myself thinking was, though there were certain flaws, was that most of the images looked absolutely perfect. After delving a bit deeper, I also found myself wondering what data the AI systems were drawing on to come up with some of the images. At about the same time, I came across the ad from Dove pictured below and the Imagine AI image-generator referenced.
What it looked like from the ad was that the image on the left was produced by entering the words "the most beautiful woman in the world." The images on the right were ones from what Dove refers to as its "Real Beauty Campaign." Beauty is an extremely subjective word, and as the phrase goes, something that is in the "eye of the beholder." So how does a machine deal with the subjective ambiguity of a word like "beauty," . . . or as I began to wonder, something that is deemed to be "perfect?" What is perfect to one human being is likely to be very different from something that is perfect to another. How would a computer or AI system respond when asked to depict something "perfect?" In order to generate several images I paid for a fee-based plan in Imagine and began submitting text for images. The phrase "A Perfect World" produced many of the images used on the site during the 2024 summer. Generating images isn't only a one-time click. If you don't like something produced or want to see what else the AI system might come up with, you can click again, though each click uses up credits. What I asked the system to give me was images of people and things like "a perfect woman," "a perfect house," "a perfect cat," etc. The original images which were included on the site can be found on the Summer '24 COUNTY Concerts by City and Concerts By Date pages. I have to admit that at times I found myself really wondering what on earth the computer/AI system was "thinking" in order to get the output it delivered. Probably the more appropriate phrase would be to wonder what the AI system was being trained on to develop the images produced. Some of the images were remarkable, other completely bizarre. Still, the fact that we are now living in a world in which complex images can be generated instantaneously from the input of only a few words or strings of text is testament to just how far AI has come in a relatively short time. Are there any lessons to be learned from the experience? Yes and no, and much of that is discussed in the summer essay. Certain notes on the images generated also are included on the concert pages. In fairness, it is probably important to say before posting the images that the Open AI system did not produce any images for the phrase "A Perfect World." The message delivered was there was not enough information (in those three words) to generate an output. The Imagine text-to-image generator used was a first generation one, and a second generation one is already in the primary position upon login. However, with the rapid pace of learning of these AI systems, it is likely that they will continue to get better and better - and very quickly at that. For those interested, an archived version of the 2024 summer site can be viewed by going to www.dorothyswebsite.org/2024index.html. INTRODUCTION TO WWW.DOROTHYSWEBSITE.ORG/SITE HISTORY The site has its roots in the Cypress College Extended Education computer labs. In 2003, while working on a series of computer-based tutorials (covering everything from data warehousing to Linux), I came across tutorials for HTML computer code and the Front Page website design program. As a practice exercise I designed a basic website with the Front Page program and posted it to the internet for about six weeks. Since it contained primarily my works (and a page of concert schedules), I called it www.dorothyswebsite.org. Little did I know then that the six-week exercise would ever have a first, let alone a twelfth, anniversary! Had I known, perhaps I would have come up with a more "catchy" name. You know what they say about hindsight, though . . . Over the next couple of years I taught myself a bit more of HTML code and website design -- not enough to have a lot of flashy bells and whistles, but enough so that now I do everything for the site. I design it, write the code, research and write the articles and content, take the pictures (and incorporate many from my personal photo archives), compile the listings, manage it, and let you all know that it exists. For those music fans who have found the listings and are new to the site, you will need to know that there are two distinct phases to the site each year. The fall/winter/spring site is mostly text and in a much more succinct three-page format (Concerts By City, Concerts By Date, and an Arts/Special Events page). In the summer, generally from June to September, the site expands and takes on the format which you see now. The main pages of the site have evolved somewhat since 2003, and they are: Poetry: Many years ago I wrote a short volume of poetry based on photographs which I had taken while travelling and living
overseas. The volume was reworked in 2004 and new poems were added. Each year a few poems from the volume have been posted to the site, and in 2005 the works of a Guest Poet were also included for the
first time. When possible, new poems are added to the site each year in conjunction with the year's theme. Essays: Each summer there has been a new series of essays on a topic of technology-related current/consumer interest. The Essay Archives contain all the previous works which have appeared on the site from 2003 - 2019. In addition, the current year's essays are placed in the essay archives the month after they appear in the "This Month's Essay" section. Since there was no summer version of the site in 2016, no essays were completed for that year, and there were no essays in 2020-21 since there was no expanded site due to Covid. Also, recoding the entire Essay Archives section to accompany the summer theme has become a very time-consuming proces. A more permanent format for the Essay Archives was established in 2023. Each essay in the Archives now (unless otherwise noted) is presented in the original format of the summer site as it appeared the year it was first posted. Click here to go to the Essay Archives page. Free Concerts: This is the most visited section of the site. The listings are for free concerts and music-related
events in Orange County, parts of Los Angeles County, and parts of the Inland Empire. Events in clubs, cafes, bars and similar venues covered elsewhere generally are not included. In the summer,
concerts are listed both by date and by city for the three areas and in total in order to make it easier to find relevant information more quickly. Each year a few more cities and/or venues usually are added, and the cities currently covered for the summer concert programs are listed on the "Concerts By City" main page. You also will find the main concert calendar on the "Concerts By Date" main page. In 2010, a new section was added to the concert pages - Concerts by Type of Music - and it is now a permanent section of the SUMMER site. Links: This page was added primarily due to requests for more information about the musicians/bands appearing at the concerts.
It includes both links to the cities and venues in which the concerts are held, and to the websites of bands/musicians appearing during the summer (when available). Over the years, the page became one of the longest on the site, so it was split into three sections to avoid the page loading too slowly. The three links pages are City/Venue Links, Band Links A-L and Band Links M-Z. Extras: The extras page was added in 2005 and offers a few other ideas for things to do or see for free during the
summer months. The page is dynamic and continually being updated, and suggestions for items to be included are appreciated. The page also incorporates the type of information which
appears on the site's Facebook page during the year. About the Site: You're here now! Two other sections have been added since 2003. The Featured Artists page (2004) and Show of the Week section (2005). Both were added in response to requests for more information about the summer entertainers. "Featured Artists" have a large number of performances over the summer in two or three counties, or, as in the case of a group such as the Long Beach Municipal Band, a number of performances in a particular venue or venues. As a general rule of thumb, and in order to give a wide number of groups the opportunity to appear as "Featured Artists," a group or artist will be included in the section NO MORE THAN ONCE IN ANY THREE-YEAR PERIOD. The "Show of the Week" section included acknowledgements of a wide variety of summer artists, special events, and whenever possible, the individuals, organizations and others who so generously make the shows possible. Due to changes in the summer concert schedules and other factors beyond site control, it has since been cancelled and the information no longer appears on the site. Website Guests: The works of a guest photographer were included in the site for the first time in 2004. In 2005, the site exhibited works of a guest photographer, guest painter and guest poet. These special guests are invited to exhibit works on the site which, as of 2006, either express or in some way interpret the summer theme. The site is called "www.dorothyswebsite.org," and if you understand a bit about how it has evolved, you'd know why the works on it have been mine. If the site stays in existence, however, my hope is that it will become much less about my materials and much more of a summer exhibition space for the works of other poets, painters, photographers and artists. Eventually this may also include a guest website designer/programmer, but only time will tell . . .
Photograph "Australian Protea" © 1985 Dorothy A. Birsic There is no logo for the site, but if there was, it might include a protea flower like the one shown in the picture above. The word "protean" has its roots in mythology in the god Proteus, a legendary sea god who had the power of assuming different shapes. In its more modern use it describes something capable of great change or readily assuming different shapes or forms. Hopefully this will continue to be a "protean" site in the sense that it can readily adapt to the changing circumstances in which it exists and become an ever more interesting stop for those who take the time to visit. Dorothy holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California. She also designed and completed a graduate program combining an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School with an M.A.L.D. (Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy) from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She has taken additional coursework in Human and Plant Biology, Genetics and Neuroscience. Dorothy's professional background includes work in public relations and management consulting. She has been a Fulbright Scholar in the former Yugoslavia, a Rotary International Scholar/Ambassador in Sydney, Australia, and lived and worked in Japan. She speaks Croatian, has passed oral and written translation exams in Japanese, and is currently teaching herself Spanish. In previous years, there also has been a section on the site featuring excerpts from a variety of Dorothy's personal and professional writings. Please click here to view those excerpts on a new page.
"Dorothy With Kangaroos" Miss Birsic is an avid sports and music fan. She plays tennis, basketball, runs (well, used to, at least), is a certified PADI diver, bikes, and enjoys photography and playing the piano. She spends a bit of time in the garden, too, tending to everything from vines and roses to fruit trees and dahlias. If you have any questions or comments about the website, please send e-mail to moremusic@dorothyswebsite.org.
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