The book publishing industry has long seen advances in technology as a way to evolve and stay on the cutting edge. However, in an attempt to stand out from competitors, one publisher recently took a leap that went wrong. Tor, an imprint of Macmillan, recently generated an artificial intelligence (AI) cover art for one of its upcoming books, and it has sparked a lot of confusion and controversy.
The artistic rendering of the novel’s main characters was generated by the artificial intelligence model. It was supposed to portray a scene from a famous classic novel, but instead it has been likened to a “goblin wearing a shell” or the “embryonic form of a giant bug”. Tor attempted to hide the AI art on the book’s cover, which caused even more confusion for book buyers.
To put it bluntly, the result of Tor’s experiment is a mess. It also raises serious questions about how artificial intelligence should (and shouldn’t) be used. The AI art flop has drawn criticism from readers, designers, and the publishing industry as a whole. Many are concerned that AI is not yet advanced enough to replace the skill of a professional graphic designer and that the use of such technology can result in an incoherent aesthetic for a book cover.
When Tor released a statement regarding the cover artwork, they provided some insight into their choice to use AI art. They noted that they wanted to take “advantage of new technologies to explore the possibilities of representing characters on the cover.” However, this experiment failed to deliver a visually pleasing or intuitive cover art. If anything, it has demonstrated the danger of relying on artificial intelligence to create artwork.
Tor’s blunder is an important reminder that technology and art must be carefully aligned and vetted. Not every artwork generated by an AI will prove to be successful, and the result can be extremely chaotic. In the future, Tor and other publishers should take the time and resources to review and scrutinize artwork created by artificial intelligence more carefully before releasing it for public consumption.
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