#improveddg

AM I DREAMING?!

As I'm sure many of you already know, I've been complaining about the popularity algorithm at the Deep Dream Generator for ages. It's now been over a year since I first started, (see HERE), and I eventually complained so much about it that I got sick of listening to myself, so decided to just stop altogether, (see HERE).

So you can imagine my astonishment (and delight) when I visited DDG yesterday (July 10th, 2024) and discovered that several artists there had banded together to do a sort of protest against the broken popularity algorithm that is long overdue for some changes!

Perhaps 'protest' is too strong of a word to use, as I don't think there was any anger involved. Let's call it a 'movement' instead, as it appeared to me to be a plea made from the love people have for the site! They were making a stand for how they thought the site could be improved in the future by having a system that rewards artwork for being ART, instead of the current system which favours 'like-trading' and folks who have been at the site longer than others.

WHAT WAS IT ALL ABOUT?

First, take a look at this link. It shows all the artist's artwork that was involved in the movement who remembered to use the hashtag "improveddg" when publishing their picture: https://deepdreamgenerator.com/tags/improveddg

I saw several other pictures where the artists forgot the #improveddg, so if you're one of them, be sure to add it so your artwork appears in the above link  ; )

The artists all used the same prompt, which was written by ChatGPT:

"Dear DeepDreamGenerator overlords, As an artist, I've spent countless nights pouring my heart and pixels into creating the masterpiece of my dreams. Yet, every time I hit 'generate,' I feel like my artwork gets lost in the algorithmic Bermuda Triangle. It's like sending a carrier pigeon with a Mona Lisa strapped to its back, only to find out it got stuck in traffic! I envision a world where every artist—whether they've been here since the digital Stone Age or just discovered the 'CTRL + Z' magic—is given a fair shot at glory. Let's upgrade this algorithm from 'mysterious art curator' to 'equal opportunity wizard'! Because, let's face it, my psychedelic Dali-inspired cat deserves its spot in the digital sun just as much as any pixel Picasso out there. So, here's my plea: tweak those ones and zeros, recalibrate those neural networks, and let's make sure every visionary, oddball, and digital da Vinci has a chance to shine. After all, who knows? The next internet-breaking artwork might just be a click away from being born. Yours in pixels and persistence, Your Frustrated DDG Artist"

The message is quite clear. Please devise a system where everyone is equal. Let newbies as well as 'oldies' at the site have an equal chance to get their artwork featured prominently where others will actually see it. LET THE ARTWORK SPEAK FOR ITSELF!

The current algorithm favours artwork with a lot of likes, which is fine, but it has created a system where artists 'trade' likes with each other to get into the top spots. New artists can't compete with old artists in this system, as they don't have established networks of people to trade their likes with, so their artwork gets pushed way down on the trending pages, if it gets onto them at all! This is a big TURN OFF to new users, and many just leave the site altogether over it.

The current system also favours artwork for how many times someone clicks on the TRY button, so people who have a lot of likes get into the top positions where they get a lot of eXposure, then they get a lot of TRY clicks there as well.

The outcome from the current system is that we see the eXact same people trending to the top over and over and over again, day after day after day. It becomes very monotonous after a while, and is another big reason why people just leave DDG altogether. They get sick and tired of it all. It also can lead to subpar images getting into the top positions, while leaving masterpieces far behind. It's a system that favours PEOPLE over PICTURES.

Dozens, if not HUNDREDS, of people have left DDG because of its favouritism to a few well networked individuals. They know that no matter how good their pictures are, they will have a very slim chance of ever seeing number one at Deep Dreams.

It's a broken system and it's been broken for a long time now.

THE FIX...

I know the DDG gods have seen the images from the above link, but will they finally act and do something about the broken algorithm? Maybe, maybe not.

MANY people have written to them about this, (myself included), but they have always been hesitant to act upon it for some reason. I can't figure out why, as it has been my eXperience that most artists at DDG have the opinion that the algorithm SUX in its current manifestation! Maybe they are afraid that they'll upset the current top trenders at the site if they change things, who knows?

But SURELY they MUST be aware of how many people have been driven away from DDG by the current algorithm, so you'd think that would be a big incentive to find a better system!

After reading through many of the comments on the images found with #improveddg, one of the recurring thoughts about it is to make the likes anonymous. This would have a serious effect on the like-trading system that is currently so popular at the site, and would also help GOOD ART to get into the top positions instead.

Another thing, which I have personally been harping away about, would be to remove the weight of the TRY clicks from the algorithm, so people who don't want to share their prompts can still compete with those that do. People are already rewarded when someone clicks on their TRY button, so why should it be such a prominent feature in pushing artwork to the top?! I've heard from many others that very much DISLIKE this!

Personally, I think a good 'old fashioned' algorithm that rewards artwork for how many likes it has, and not for anything else, would be a good fiX. And if the likes were also anonymous, that would take care of a big chunk of the problems currently found at DDG.

Of course what I think makes no difference at all. It is totally up to the "Dear DeepDreamGenerator overlords" to figure it all out, should they ever decide to do something about it.

But yesterday, when I saw so many others publicly voicing their concerns about something that has been personally driving me bonkers for so long now, well, it just gave me a satisfying & warm feeling inside!

It was a wonderful movement that got the attention of the people who matter, and hopefully will help them to eventually move towards a much more favourable algorithm that is kind towards everyone, old and new, and gets back to a system that ranks ARTWORK instead of the individuals that make it!


CONGRATS and THANK YOU to all who were involved! You really made my day! ❤

"X"

July 11th, 2024