About Me
I'm Scott J. Hunter. I have always worked with visual art such as drawings, paintings, illustration, cinematography, and film editing. Additionally, I delve into creative writing like prose, poetry, philosophy, and screenwriting. This year, I have decided to branch out and begin using new tools to publish some of that material. This site is the repository of all that. It won't be polished. That's not me. But I hope it is interesting, and along the way my other interests will feature, such as mysticism and the nature of God, consciousness and the odd way the mind works, as well as my sometimes strange and literal sense of humor.
How I Work
Most projects start fairly simply: I read a lot of articles, some random posts, some blogs, and an occaisonal book and then get an idea stuck in my head and follow it to the end. With modern tools such as AI, I find that I can sometimes learn more about a subject than I ever imagined. Then I begin figuring out how I am going to process it and memorialize what is going on in my head so I can get it down on paper and have it make sense.
That process is a mix of research, writing, and prompt-based AI work. I find like with any project I have done over the last 5 decades, revisions and more revisions are the way of life. So don't expect to come back here and see the same about page or blog post if I decide I could have been clearer or just decided to change focus.
A Tool for Thought
I find that AI can be used two ways: as a substitute for thinking, or an enhancement. I try to do the latter. I use AI as a practical tool for brainstorming and research, drafting, and image and video development. It helps me move faster, but it also has clear limits. I want to test those limits and am continually surprised at how fast it improves. My focus is on using it responsibly in support of human judgment, not replacing it. I wish others would do the same.
AI and Art
With my background in graphic arts and film editing, I use AI to explore new visual directions, a selection of which I post here. I know this is controversial. AI developers stole millions of artworks from millions of artists with no compensation. That's a great reason for government regulation and I agree with the Supreme Court's decision to not allow copyrights on AI-produced material. But I distinguish between the tool and the developer and use it for exploration only. I do not use AI-produced art to make money. I know it can be argued that I need to withdraw my support from the developer but I believe this tool is too important to learn and practice with for the future to do that.
I wrote about this in a post recently, Copying, Influence, and AI Art.
The Future
With my background in history, I have studied the development of technology over time. The cotton gin was decried as one of the worst inventions of the 18th century, people screamed that it would replace thousands of laborers and end the economy of the south as we know it. Instead, it massively changed it, increasing the volume of cotton production and unfortunately also increasing slavery to keep up with worldwide demand. The same reactions happened with the introduction of the steam engine, electricity, cars, movies, sound in movies, computers, and the internet as well as many other inventions. It may sound harsh but history has one lesson: Adapt or Die.
It's already happening. Workers who use AI are replacing workers who don't.
Some people argue that AI will replace us completely. I don't believe that. I do believe population patterns will shift and the economy will shift with them, and that transition will be painful for many people. But I also think something new can emerge on the other side of that synthesis - something more productive, more creative, and ultimately better for humanity than what we have now.
Final Note
This site probably won't change the world, and not many people may ever see it. That's okay. It's an outlet, a place for personal expression, and a way to get the mountain of ideas out of my head and into the wider stream of the internet. If you do come across it, drop me a note - it would make my day.
Contact
Feel free to reach out to me by email. I usually take 24-48 hours to respond. If you think what I do aligns with your project needs, I'd love to hear from you!
If you want to be notified about updates, send me your email and I will add you to the list.