Can AI generate real art?

AI art is a touchy subject with artists.  Most of the members of my art club would say emphatically that AI images are NOT art. I follow some other artists on Facebook. One of them is a Japanese artist who has been working with AI since 2021.  It says in her bio, though, that she was a professional artist using more traditional methods for at least a decade prior to that. Her pictures are beautiful, both before and after her involvement with AI.  They are of a style, I can tell that they are the work of the same person.  But people are merciless in the comments.  They view her use of AI as plagiarism, cheating, betrayal, and so on.  A lot of the comments say that all you have to do is type in a command, that it requires no knowledge of art, and no talent.  Even I, as unfamiliar with AI as I am, know it isn't that simple. 

The author of this article, Sebastian Smee, feels that AI is not a threat to traditional artists, and that it is possible to create real art with AI. How AI is changing art and why traditional artists should embrace it - The Washington Post

Color me AI curious. 

Francis's gaffe

Many news outlets, including secular, mainstream news organizations such as the New York Times and ABC News, are reporting on a remark, including a very unfortunate word, which Pope Francis recently uttered when talking about the possibility of LGBTQ seminarians.  

Not distant

This is my homily for today, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Cycle B.  Today's readings are here.  

Our occasional visitors

When I stepped outside this morning to fetch the newspaper from the driveway, the handsome fellow pictured above dropped from our roof and nearly landed in my hair.  It is a cicada.  

If you've been following cicada news, you know that this is a big cicada year.  Broods of two different species of periodical cicadas are expected to emerge this year.  The critter pictured above (I hesitate to use the numbers, as they may be a bit confusing, but apparently this is how bug scientists keep track of them) is from Brood 13 of the 17 Year Cicadas.  And news outlets are reporting that Brood 19 of the 13 Year Cicadas also have begun to put in their appearance.  This is the first year since 1803 that both types of cicadas are emerging during the same year.  But according to maps I have seen, while Illinois is home to both types, there isn't much overlap in their territories, at least in our state.  The 13 Years are in the southern part of the state.

For the last couple of days, we've seen a few cicadas in our front yard and on one of our trees.  And we've noticed birds hopping around in the front yard, presumably devouring them (feast away!).  My recollection of previous cicada events is that, as the soil continues to warm, many, many more will be forthcoming, and their noise will become much more than a minor nuisance.  And then, after a few weeks, they'll be gone again, until the next generation (Brood 14?) tunnels to the surface in 2041 or thereabouts.

A possibly-naive suggestion for Israel in Gaza - Updated

Update: Below the contents of the original post, I'm adding an excerpt from a story by Free Press journalist Eli Lake on the food security of Gazans.

Harrison Butker's commencement address at Benedictine College

A placekicker for the Kansas City Chiefs has exposed to the world what conservative Catholics think, say and believe.

FOX NEWS interview with Bishop Barron

 Fox News Digital shadowed Bishop Robert Barron for a day and spoke with him about the death of New Atheism, partisan politics, stand-up comedy, and why he's not a fan of public excommunications

The Most Popular Catholic Outside the Vatican

Regular type from the article; my comments in italics.

Should candidates for priesthood be ordained as deacons?

A controversy has erupted in the Catholic media over the practice of ordaining future priests as deacons first.

Word on Fire...again

I almost typed "Hair on fire".  It appears that people at Word on Fire didn't consider Massimo Faggioli's redaction of his reference to Bishop Robert Barron's ministry as adjacent to Trump and Trumpism on the Commonweal site as being sufficient.

From the article on NCR today:

Bishop Barron's Word on Fire again threatens Commonweal over article about Trumpism | National Catholic Reporter (ncronline.org)

St. Guinefort

 

Lately I have come across several articles about an obscure saint from the 12th century, St. Guinefort.  He was one of those unofficial saints who was not canonized, more a figure of  folklore than one who could be verified historically.  He was invoked as a patron for the protection of children. 

And oh by the way, he was a dog. From this article:  St. Guinefort, the Dog Venerated as a Saint | Mental Floss

AP: ‘A step back in time': America’s Catholic Church Sees an Immense Shift Toward the Old Ways

 Excerpt from today's lengthy piece from the Associated Press:

. . . Across the U.S., the Catholic Church is undergoing an immense shift. Generations of Catholics who embraced the modernizing tide sparked in the 1960s by Vatican II are increasingly giving way to religious conservatives who believe the church has been twisted by change, with the promise of eternal salvation replaced by guitar Masses, parish food pantries and casual indifference to church doctrine.

The shift, molded by plummeting church attendance, increasingly traditional priests and growing numbers of young Catholics searching for more orthodoxy, has reshaped parishes across the country, leaving them sometimes at odds with Pope Francis and much of the Catholic world.

The changes are not happening everywhere. There are still plenty of liberal parishes, plenty that see themselves as middle-of-the-road. Despite their growing influence, conservative Catholics remain a minority.

Yet the changes they have brought are impossible to miss. . . . 

Here is a link to the full article.