I've been playing around with Microsoft's AI app, Copilot (Don't tell Gemini or ChatGPT.) I asked it for a design for the statement, "It is Ennui, not me." and it gave me this image of a pretty boy looking wistfully off into space. So I asked it for something less generic and white bread and it gave me this.
Nice image and definitely not generic or white bread, but not what I was hoping for. So I asked Copilot for something more abstract.
Definitely more abstract but it doesn't make me think ennui.
So I asked for it's definition of ennui:
Ennui is a French word that has been adopted into English, and it refers to a feeling of deep weariness, boredom, or dissatisfaction. It's not just ordinary boredom—it's often tied to a sense of listlessness or lack of purpose, as though nothing feels engaging or worthwhile. Ennui can creep in during moments of stagnation or when life feels repetitive and uninspired.
Now that is what I am looking for in a design. So I said give me a design that matches that definition.
Again with a young person who hasn't been writing an unread blog for more than 20 years. I said to make it an old white man with white hair and long beard.
So a hip looking Santa Claus isn't what I was going for so I tried again and asked for a design with the old man in the same type of design as the young man in the chair.
Directing AI art just isn't all it is cracked up to be.
This is what I was looking for.