GM

Welcome to the 15 people who joined over the weekend.

This newsletter was entirely written by a human without any AI assistance.

Then again, that’s something a chatbot would say, isn’t it?

In today’s edition:

• ChatGPT NFTs have arrived

• My updated NFT rankings

• Drops we found over the weekend

More info on Mint/Watch lists HERE.

The Nike presale ended. The General Access sale begins on Wednesday.

ChatGPT NFTs have arrived

Context

Computer Science (Death of) is an upcoming free generative art collection from pseudonymous artist BASIIC.

The idea is simple: can an AI tool like Chat GPT create visually compelling gen art?

Chat GPT was tasked with ideating, coding, debugging and then refining each piece from the collection, as well as writing the majority of a blog post used to explain the project.

Mint details:

• Date: TBD

• Supply: 100

• Price: Free (airdropped)

Our Take

There’s a famous quote from The Terminator that now seems really ahead of its time:

Ok, I tweaked it a bit. But that general sense of relentless pursuit, and constant improvement, and freedom from human restraints, does remind me of the way that AI is slowly mastering every creative artform our poo-brains have come up with in the last however-many-thousand years.

Gen art is next. For those that aren’t aware, gen art collections such as those sold through Art Blocks (including blue chips like Fidenzas and Ringers) are built purely from code and mathematics – realms in which AI has been making incredible progress recently.

Computer Science (Death of) is a snapshot of that progress. It’s testing the current capabilities of ChatGPT, including any flaws that show off its limitations.

These flaws may end up looking like a quirk of the times, similar to the distorted hands often seen in other forms of AI art (something that’s already being phased out).

In terms of the outputs themselves: they’re polished but we think they fall short of being truly compelling.

Without the link to AI we probably wouldn’t pick these out from the many impressive human-made visuals you might find on a platform like fxhash.

Still – they’re scary good for being a Chat GPT production, and you can imagine just how much better this’ll get in the coming years.

And really it’s not the visuals that make these collections interesting, it’s the story.

BASIIC is telling us that we’ve just entered a new era. I’m imagining a timeline like this:

1. Human art

2. Human + AI art ← You are here

3. AI art (without humans)

This collection is a signpost for the new phase of Human and AI co-creation, one that might only be in view for a brief moment, like a highway sign welcoming you to a new state that you fly past at 100 miles per hour.

This was expanded in a medium post they published:

What’s next?

Here are some assumptions that I’m reasonably confident about:

1. Going forward it’ll be nearly impossible to differentiate between AI and human gen art.

2. This might’ve already been the case, but tools like ChatGPT mean AI pieces will now flood the market.

3. Much of this will come from developing countries, where someone may only need to sell out 1-2% of a collection to make a profit.

4. Deep down I think many collectors are ready to simp for an AI Picasso. The stories write themselves, even if the outputs aren’t quite there yet.

Sidenote, as we originally stated here, we find it curious that Kevin Rose first shared this artist when they had less than 100 followers.

Who even is BASIIC? A personal friend? An alt account from a high-profile gen artist? Kevin Rose himself?

Maybe there’s another twist in the story.

✨ Added to Watch List ✨

NOTE: These drops are lightly curated. Our only requirement is that they have recognizable founders. As usual, DYOR. To learn more go here.

6529 Meme Cards 102 & 103

6529 Meme Cards is featuring two noteworthy artists this week:

1. GxngYxng – renowned for Ghxsts

2. Jack Butcher – currently exhibiting at Christie's

Releasing on Wednesday and Friday, the drop will follow the standard 6529 model: allowlist is based on collector holdings and the price is 0.06529 ETH.

I expect these to be some of the more popular cards in recent times.

RSTLSS x Claire Silver: Pixelgeist

RSTLSS, a Web3 wearables company founded by Charli Cohen, has partnered with popular AI artist Claire Silver for their upcoming release this Wednesday (you should watch the trailer, it’s cool).

The drop will feature 183 designs by Silver split among various 1/1s and editions, with a total supply of 2,136 NFTs priced at 0.2 ETH for the public mint. A select number of these also hold the potential to be forged into physical, meat-world items.

It’s an interesting concept with highly aesthetic execution so far.

HelioX

Helio, a London-based web3 payments platform that recently raised a $3.3m seed round, released mint details for their upcoming HelioX pass, a 7,500 supply free mint.

The pass will grant holders access to the pro version of Helio with reduced fees and additional features.

A drop specifically aimed at buildooors.

Post-Photographic Perspectives II: Acceptable Realities

Curation platform Fellowship is returning with the second installment of their AI-focused Post-Photographic Perspectives series, a follow-up to their tremendously successful Act 1.

The drop is slated for early July but is currently in the artist curation phase, making it too early to tell how it will shape up.

I’ll be watching their announcements. 👀 

THE MINT LIST

1. Nike Our Force 1. Digital shoe drop from the global consumer brand.

2. Project Animus. RTFKT's biggest launch since Clone-X.

3. Symbiogenesis. Square Enix's upcoming gaming NFT.

4. FewoWorld. New PFP by Fewocious, a rising star in the art world.

5. 10KFT PFP. Drop from a team that includes Yuga and Beeple.

6. Ether. Anime PFP collection by viii, an artist with a cult following.

7. BIG INC. New free mint from the goblintown team.

8. Dimensionals - EVE. Free gaming PFP from doxxed studio.

9. Squiggles. Limited auction of the OG gen art collection.

10. Garbage Friends. New PFP from the creator of Invisible Friends.