Commissioned by TIME for their Person of the Year cover.

The concept was to show AI being constructed like a large building structure with scaffolding and workers on different levels.

Ironically, the starting point was an AI-generated mock-up. It looked like a Heath Robinson mechanical contraption: too old-fashioned for the subject, with unconnected cogs, lots of pipes, and some computer chips for good measure. The AI's visual blurred and smudged the details, making it appear as if the mechanical and computer components were roughly made of silver plasticine. Using traditional computer models and rendering would be much better at maintaining consistent edges and details.

To make this more visually interesting and give it a more contemporary vibe, I cut up the letterforms, creating a design of interlocking angular shapes, like car panels. Some sections were removed to show tech details inside, while a mix of frosted glass and dark grey metal covered the rest. From a design point of view, this balances areas of extreme detail with less-detailed regions, creating a more pleasing composition. Certainly, it looked better than having everything in clear view, where the letter forms are just open like a box without a lid, crammed full of tech.

Detailed mech kitbash models were used to create the complex, large-scale appearance of the internal mechanisms. Computer fans helped to ground it in the world of computers and servers. Pipes and computer cables linked sections, making it look more computer-like than mechanical. I wanted to avoid using cogs at all costs.

Workers were added using stock 3D scans, hand-positioned on the scaffolding and in the foreground of the scene. Though texture-mapped with photos, these models need work to escape the uncanny valley.

Generally, this image was made in a mostly traditional way, using computer 3D models, scene setup, materials, lighting, and rendering, with limited AI for the people and a Photoshop photomontage step for the talking groups in the foreground.



Creative Director, D.W. Pine
Agent, Jonathan Hedley at Debut Art