I carved this robot ice sculpture well before I’d heard of an ice sculpture robot.
updated 8/24/23 with more info, a perspective on AI, some seo, and links.
man versus machine
I just thought it might be interesting to compare similar style carvings, one carved by hand, and one carved primarily on a CNC machine, which, in a sense, is an ice sculpting robot. Ideally, both carvings would be the same design, but this is the best I can do on a man versus machine comparison for now. (I may be able to do better later.) Before I tell you which one is which, I’ll let you take a guess. Don’t read the bottom section until you decide. It shouldn’t be TOO hard to tell.
man versus machine: one was engraved by hand, the other by machine. You should be able to tell, but I’ll definitely take the compliment if you can’t 😂
I carved The Jockey Club sculpture by hand with power engraving tools years ago in Albuquerque, NM. I believe this was my first ice portrait. The “All the King’s Men” piece, other the other hand, was engraved on a CNC machine. It was the first ice portrait that I engraved on a CNC. My photographic skills have improved as of late, but I remember working for a long time on both the carving and the photo with the Jockey Club piece. As you’d expect, the King’s Men piece was a little easier to complete (once the design was sent to the machine.)
You’ll notice that in the Jockey Club piece, the lettering is composed of strokes of pretty uniform thickness that are a little off here and there. With more time and effort, I could have improved this, but with a CNC’d piece, the lettering generally looks like the original font, complete with variations in stroke weight. Because of the block lettering on the King’s Men piece, you don’t get an opportunity to see the difference this time around. I believe that when I did the horse piece, I put the bulk of my effort into the horse head engraving. Ironically, if I’d paid less attention to that and more to the lettering, it would be harder to tell which is which.
In fact though, I had a little trouble with the lettering on the King’s Men piece; a few of the peninsulas broke out and the edges were a little rough. I think I was having some vibration issues on the spindle head.
You can also see some issues with the roundness of the circle around “The Jockey Club” and the detail line just inside it. It’s not horrible, but not perfect either. Definitely a clue that it was hand cut.
In most cases, I find it’s pretty easy to tell the difference between man versus machine carved pieces; the machined pieces are just a little too perfect, in particular with lettering.
man versus machine, versus reality versus AI
Interestingly, as I update this post, artificial intelligence (AI) images have just recently come on the scene. I frequently see AI watermelons on my Facebook feed. Even though I’m not a fruit carver (except for pumpkins), it’s pretty easy (I think) to tell which are AI watermelons. There are a few ways to tell, but again, the AI watermelons are just a little too perfect. I think as we head into fall, that I’m about to start to see a lot of fake sculpted pumpkins in my Facebook feed 😫
Unfortunately, it seems that most people can’t tell. The comments sections are full of lines like “Amazing!” and “Unbelievable work!” Evidently, it hasn’t occurred to them that all the spectacular fruit artwork they’ve seen of late has less to do with a recent quantum leap in watermelon sculpting technology than it does with people using AI to get likes for their posts.
I do think that AI will become something of a normal. I haven’t seen impressive AI ice sculptures yet, but I’m sure they’re coming. I suspect that just like hands have been a problem for AI (some would come with 6 fingers or be posed awkwardly) that the light aspects of ice sculptures are challenging for the technology, mostly since rendering ice sculptures are a low priority. I expect, just as I’ve looked to see if a sculpture was made by CNC, I’ll be checking to see if a “sculpture” is an AI creation.
As an artist, I definitely see some benefits to CNC technology and I embrace it. I’m less certain that I’ll see the same level of benefit with AI. However, it’s likely not going to go away, so might as well embrace it as well 🤷♂️
links and stuff
This post is listed on the CNC ice sculpting page, and you could also find photos and info from this entry on the ice sculpting secrets Instagram account or the facebook page. You can comment there as well as below. And if it won’t LET you comment below, then definitely comment on fb and/or IG. Thanks!
