Tag: technology

Technology

Breaking the tabit: the fight against tab-hoarding

3 minute read
Adrian Young Adrian Young

An obscure piece of JavaScript code. A how‑to guide on making money through affiliate marketing in 2022. A hard‑to‑find film that I might watch, one day. A now‑outdated comparison of the best web hosting services. An instruction manual for the combi‑boiler. These are just a few examples of the assorted junk that could be found clogging up my web browser.

That’s because I was a chronic tab hoarder. You might be one too.

What is tab-hoarding?

Tabs are a standard piece of functionality in many modern computer applications, and particularly in web browsers. They’re a good thing. Maybe you’re about to buy something and want to compare several retailers for the best price. Perhaps you’re cross‑referencing multiple sources for an essay. Or you might be following a web development tutorial, with instructions open in one tab and your project in another.

But there’s a dark side: excessive, long‑term collection of tabs. Or tab-hoarding as it’s commonly known. A tab‑hoarder doesn’t just flit between a couple of tabs concerning their current task, but instead stockpiles hundreds of tabs for future reference. These are things that they might return to. But, you know, probably won’t.

Example of tab-hoarding
Does your browser look something like this?

Why is it bad?

At its peak, my tab empire spanned multiple applications across multiple devices. It was bolstered by clusters of operating system folders, and a daily barrage of personal reminders.

Together, these items form a vast but fragmented to‑do list. An overwhelming one that will never be cleared. That’s a stressful thing.

And you know what else is stressful? The fear that at any time, human error or technical mishap will wipe out a portion of this eternal backlog. And it does happen. This misuse of tabs creates a fragile house of cards. Upon its collapse ensues a frantic effort to regather what was lost.

There’s another problem: technological dependence. Not every tab is necessarily something that a person plans on actively doing, but perhaps a piece of information deemed potentially useful for the future. Tab‑hoarding trains the brain to lean on a digital crutch. Computer on, brain off.

It’s time to settle the tab

I conquered my tab-hoarding, but only after an essential first step: awareness. Throughout years of this behaviour, the only resistance was subsconscious. A nagging but easily‑ignored whisper. Consciously‑speaking, I wasn’t particularly aware that what I was doing was harmful. The amassing of tabs, although frequently a hassle, was simply standard procedure.

The catalyst came when setting up Firefox on a new computer. Immediately upon installation I rushed to find the option to retain open tabs rather than forget them. The fact that is was not the default setting made me pause for a moment. Why is it not? Am I doing this wrong?

That behavioural evaluation led to a conclusion: tab-hoarding is bad. I realised that I would never need to come back to 99% of the screen‑cluttering tabs in my collection. And the few that I did would be important enough to remember. At that point it became surprisingly easy to close all tabs and similar items on my other devices, and avoid starting a fresh batch on the new PC. The feeling of relief was palpable.

Of course, the tab-saving urge revisits from time to time. That means a risk of relapse. But it’s a small one. The hard part is already done. The impulse to save a tab soon evaporates when the question is asked: will this act improve my life, or make it worse?

What do the experts say?

In short: lots of things. Tab-hoarding has been associated with anxiety and procrastination. It’s often attributed to a concept familiar to marketers: FOMO – the fear of missing out.

Tab-hoarding is part of a much larger topic: the impact of computers and the internet on the malleable human mind. Dr Larry Rosen explores this subject in detail in his book, iDisorder. Our always‑online world has transformed the way we communicate and acquire information, but does it also foster addiction and compulsivity?

The rapidly‑developing digital age represents just a tiny speck so far in human history. Only time will tell what it truly means for human development.

Artificial intelligence

The magic of Photoshop’s generative fill

5 minute read
Adrian Young Adrian Young

Someone famous once wrote: any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. And while I’m fairly certain that Adobe Photoshop isn’t secretly powered by wizards, its generative fill function really makes me start to question that.

Before we look at the wonders of which it is capable, let’s imagine a graphical challenge that we might face in day‑to‑day work.

Grass production

Here’s a picture of a dog:

Stock photograph of a dog lying on grass

It came from Unsplash, but let’s say it actually came from a client. And it needs to fit a square‑shaped slot in a template, but they absolutely do not want to crop it. They need the full dog. Therefore we need to extend the grass at the sides.

Once upon a time, this would have meant using Photoshop’s clone stamp tool. That lets you manually ‘grab’ regions of an image, to paint in elsewhere. With some smoothing and layering – not to mention a considerable amount of patience – the results can be quite convincing. But who has time for that when deadlines are looming?

It’s not necessary in this example, but sometimes this process would entail the tricky masking of objects. Hair in particular could be a nightmare. You might even want to grab portions of other images, like a kind of pictorial Frankenstein’s monster.

For old time’s sake, let’s complete our challenge using only the clone stamp. Here’s my somewhat rushed effort:

Stock photograph of a dog lying on grass. Photoshop's clone brush has been used to manually extend the grassy background

There is obvious blurring. It’s almost like an impression of grass rather than actual grass. A patient Photoshopper could painstakingly labour over such a task until it looks natural, but that isn’t practical in the real world of business.

We need a faster option.

Had your (content-aware) fill

In the early 2010s, Adobe introduced content‑aware fill. I always found this an oddly unassuming (if accurate) name for such a powerful tool. After all, this is a piece of software that sports a magic wand. Anyway, I digress.

Content-aware fill is an ‘intelligent’ tool that can remove items or extend images in a mostly‑automated fashion. You just need to make the selection, and optionally adjust the sampling data area. Sometimes it may take a couple of sweeps or some manual finishing touches, but essentially content‑aware fill does the work of a clone stamp without human intervention. And in a literal fraction of the time.

Here’s what it did with our dog photo:

Stock photograph of a dog lying on grass. Photoshop's content-aware fill has been used to manually extend the grassy background

That’s not bad. Gone is the unsightly blurring from my clone stamp version. But in its place is some fairly noticeable duplication. There are clusters of identical patterns here and there.

I’m looking for defects of course. A customer browsing a website or glancing over a marketing email is going to focus on the cute dog rather than scrutinise every blade of grass.

Even so, wouldn’t it be nice if this was perfect?

The big one: generative fill

Now for something state‑of‑the‑art. Generative fill is a recent addition to Photoshop’s toolkit and is powered by AI. Let’s try it on our photo:

Stock photograph of a dog lying on grass. Photoshop's generative fill has been used to manually extend the grassy background

No blurring. No duplication. Blades of grass and leaves have been completed in a realistic manner. You’d be hard pressed to spot anything artificial in that expanded area.

But we’re only scratching the surface of what this tool can do. While it’s possible to make a selection and click the button and trust the tool to know what to do, you can also guide it with written prompts. Should that dog really be out there without a collar? Let’s fix that.

Step one is to use the lasso tool to very roughly draw a selection around the dog’s neck. Next, we can enter a simple prompt: dog’s collar, red.

Stock photograph of a dog lying on grass. Photoshop's generative fill has been used to manually extend the grassy background, and add a red collar on the dog

And what spaniel is complete without a ball to chase? We can provide that too:

Stock photograph of a dog lying on grass. Photoshop's generative fill has been used to manually extend the grassy background, add a red collar on the dog, and place a tennis ball next to the animal

Pushing it further

Ok, so we expanded a little bit of grass and dropped in a couple of simple objects. In this day and age of generative AI, you might say: big deal. Let’s demonstrate what this tool can really do.

Here’s another image from Unsplash:

Cropped stock photo of two businesswomen at a desk

It’s a stretch, but what if we just loved that particular depiction of corporate life and wanted to develop the image beyond that stylised crop? Well, all we need to do is bump up the height and hit the generative fill button once more:

Cropped stock photo of two businesswomen at a desk, expanded with Photoshop's generative fill to show their faces

Actual people, believably sewn on to the original image. By default, Photoshop returns three variations. They’re not always so perfect, but that’s ok – pick the one you like, or spin again. Make no mistake, this is an impressive piece of technology.

Starting from nothing

Generative fill is very closely tied to Photoshop’s generate image functionality. You don’t need a base image. You can start from scratch.

So, technically speaking, I didn’t actually have to go stock photo‑hunting in the first place. I could simply ask Photoshop for:

Photoshop's generative image panel, being prompted to create: 'Overhead photograph of a cute, tan-coloured spaniel lying on its back on the grass. The dog is wearing a red collar. A yellow tennis ball is lying on the grass nearby.'

I flicked through six variations and decided on this one:

Photoshop-generated image of a tan-coloured spaniel lying on its back on grass, next to a tennis ball

Curiously, fake turf was present in all six images. That’s an eerie preference for the artificial!

What’s next?

AI will only become further engrained in Photoshop, and software in general. Perhaps more and more tasks will be accomplished via a prompt interface rather than a traditional tool panel.

It may not be sorcery, but the distinction might not be that important when you can perform half a day’s work in seconds.

Artificial intelligence

What does AI mean for human creativity?

5 minute read
Adrian Young Adrian Young

Great art is special. Despite the gratuitous overuse of superlatives on the internet, very few works can truly be described as awesome. A masterpiece is a rare thing, as it should be.

In order to produce a work that merits such a lofty accolade, the artist must possess a world‑class level of skill and talent. Nobody can compose a symphony for the ages or brush a Louvre‑worthy painting without first dedicating thousands of hours to mastering their craft. In short, it is hard work.

But what if it wasn’t?

The age of generative AI

When I first heard about Midjourney, I was intrigued. A platform in which you could type anything that pops into your imagination, and it will conjure up an image? It sounded too good to be true.

And in a way it was. After the initial novelty wore off, the glitch‑riddled results became tiresome. With the site’s communal nature, it quickly became apparent that the vast majority of requested images were inane dross. Keanu Reeves eating a bowl of baked beans? Hold my sides!

Things have moved on since then. Midjourney is much improved. In addition to drawing pictures, there are generative AI applications that can answer questions, offer advice, assess your writing, tell stories, generate code, create a logo, compose music, and produce full‑motion video. The creative results are usually blatantly unconvincing and have a telltale artificiality, at least without some post‑processing. Nonetheless, we’re talking about a technology in its early stages and one that is developing rapidly.

AI-generated illustration of a robot painting a picture

Technology’s role in art

Generative AI is far from the first catalyst for a technology‑versus‑talent debate. The camera was considered a threat to painters. Why go to all the messy palaver of a canvas and paints when you can simply press a button and capture a scene in an instant? Electronic music was – and sometimes still is – criticised as a rigid and soulless form of aural creativity.

But for every detractor, there is an advocate. There’s a convincing case to be made for the use of the tool being what matters, rather than the existence of the tool itself. Few would deny that Ansel Adams is a masterful photographer, or that Vangelis is a talented musician who had the vision to explore modern technology.

There’s another important point: despite initial fears, these new technologies did not replace their more traditional cousins. It seems silly now to imagine that synthesisers might have made acoustic instruments obsolete. There’s plenty of room in the creative world for painting and photography, both analogue and digital.

Art versus design

Art is subjective, and not only in terms of personal tastes. The very nature of art is a matter for eternal debate. Arguably the most important single value of art is expression. Expression of thoughts, and ideas, and emotions. These are innately human qualities that a computer cannot replicate. Not yet at least.

Design, on the other hand, represents a more functional dimension of creativity. There’s usually a defined objective, in contrast to the nebulous experience of art. While there is often an overlap between the disciplines, design is more clinical, and art is more interpretive.

Tearing down barriers

The challenge with any creative endeavour is taking the vision in your head and making it a reality. Skill therefore is a barrier. By virtue of being difficult to produce, a work of creativity is worthy of our attention.

But not everyone has the time, natural aptitude or even physical ability to become a great painter or musician or moviemaker. I doubt many people would consciously want to block someone’s desire to create. Therefore a more accessible point of entry is surely a good thing. Generative AI offers a means of creation from pure imagination, without a long and arduous path of learning.

Imperfectly perfect

Many years ago, I had an impromptu conversation with a stranger in a bar about AI‑generated movies. It was largely what if. At that point in time, I didn’t really expect to see such a thing become a reality in my lifetime.

One of the talking points was the concept of tailoring an existing film to personal preferences. I’m sure we’ve all watched films that were so close to greatness, were it not for a few niggling flaws. Well, what if a computer could refine it? Out with the immersion‑breakingly overblown finale, in with the ending of your dreams. It’s perfect now, right?

But is computer‑generated perfection really a desirable goal in art? Flaws are part of the human condition. Art is a thing to be discussed, warts and all. If everything is ‘perfect’, nothing is special.

A creative tipping point

We’ve established that technology in itself doesn’t negate artistry. A paintbrush or a violin is a piece of technology. Even the scratching of a mammoth into a cave wall requires a tool. So, unless we consider anything beyond melodic human wailing to be cheating, technology is a part of art.

Generative AI can often serve as a creative aid. Output can be influenced, refined and repurposed. That demands human creativity. And if there’s a human at the helm, then the finished work will still carry some kind of meaning. Something is being expressed.

But what happens when the tool becomes so sophisticated that the need for human input is thoroughly diluted? Right now we can tell a computer what we want it to generate. Maybe next we will only need to think it. Perhaps the technology will advance to the point that we can skip even that mental exertion, and instead wait to be served creations that the computer already knows to be to our liking. At some point, the balance swings towards computer-generated rather than computer-aided. Perhaps we are already past that point.

The WALL‑E warning

From Metropolis to The Terminator to Black Mirror, our storytelling has often incorporated themes about the dangers of technology. But the one that stands out to me as the most prescient is Pixar’s WALL‑E. For those that haven’t seen it, it depicts a future in which humans live a coddled but empty life. Machines cater for mankind’s every need, creating an existence of pure consumption while human connection and knowledge are lost.

Back to the real world. Current AI technology is primitive compared to the examples we’ve seen in fiction. Artificial general intelligence (AGI) has yet to be achieved, and perhaps never will. Nonetheless, it’s not unfeasible to imagine AI advancing to the point where our technological dependence becomes a serious concern. Creativity is just one aspect of our lives that is already influenced by AI. And while it’s correct to say that it is human ingenuity that brought us to this point in the first place, that is too indirect a factor when considering the potential long term effects.

The best of both worlds

AI isn’t going away. Humans by nature push forward and strive for more. Onwards and upwards!

But it’s always nice to ‘get away from it’. Modern life takes place in the digital world to an unhealthy degree. Maybe it’s time to turn off the computer, dust off the old drawing pencils set, and create something a little more pure.