Facebook and Bing - A Killer Combination

 This is a partial list of groups I belong to that focus on Generative AI art:

Facebook creates community. I use BING as a kind of Generative AI university: BING U.  I prefer the role of student, so my job is to find good teachers. Think of me as the guy who shows you around the campus and knows his way around, but he's a student himself.

Microsoft BING is free and very powerful. It's an excellent way to learn Generative AI and a standard tool that everyone in my imaginary school has.

The way to find a teacher is to see their work in a Facebook group. Then, save the picture that caught your eye in a Word document (or document editor of your choice). For example ...

Joe McIntosh

What we have found here is not only the prompt for the picture but a teacher who shares the prompts for all his pictures. Look for artists who work primarily with BING. Don't get distracted by other platforms or techniques. Learn to do one thing well before shopping for better tools. The best Facebook contacts are "real" artists, which will be reflected in their profiles. You don't need dozens. A few good ones will occupy you for weeks. Lets try a Koala instead of a Red Panda:

A red panda climbing up a tree branch in a zoo enclosure at night time,

with a red and white fur hanging from the branches,

an impressionist painting,

animal photography, excessivism, Chen Chi

So, your document should be a collection of pictures you like, along with the artist's Facebook page. Then, you can be a student by creating variations of the work that caught your eye in the first place. This sets you up to see other works by the same artist and even communicate with the artist. Your goal is to grow our vocabulary about art. Along the way, we should learn about artists. AI "knows" the style of famous artists. Mention of their name can be worth 100 words in a prompt. However, one thing you can do with a great prompt is cut out words to see what makes a difference. " With MS Designer, you are limited to the number of "shots" you get, so the prompts that work can be a bit bloated. There is a tendency to throw it all at the wall to see what sticks.

A red panda climbs a tree branch in a zoo enclosure at nighttime.

(This is very different from the original - why? What have we lost?)

You can freely share your "notes" with fellow students, creating the supercharged learning environment we remember from school. However, you do not need to save your own pictures. BING will do that for you. Add one or more categories to the image, and BING will save it as a neat record of your "homework."

Think like a student. Move fast. Take notes. Make friends. Share ideas. Develop skills by imitating the masters. Ask questions after you do your homework.

You only have so many "shots" per day in Bing. The constraint is your friend. Spend more time examining the teacher's work and adding more teachers than making your own stuff.

Eventually, you may "graduate" to other methods, other "schools," or just become a better critic. You may develop a better "eye" for what is art and what is just "interesting." I urge you to spend some time in BING U before getting too far ahead of yourself.