NFT scamming with generative AI
Hey bud, sure its original art
NFTs have had their day, rugs have been pulled, prices have cratered, promises have been broken. But every day we see a new set of scams. So I’d like to combine two things into one:
The nefarious use of AI and cryptoscams
NFT original physical art
So my organization has obtained the rights to original art created by some of the leading art school graduates. This is an opportunity to own an original painting, sculpture or other piece of original art created by someone who could go on to become a household name. The art is stored in bonded warehouses in Croydon but the NFT confers full ownership of the art. Due the agreement we have with the artists these pieces cannot be legally displayed to the public for 5 years, this is done to ensure it maximizes the value and prevents a flooding of the market as the artist starts their career.
Meet the artist
Name: Willow Windflower
Bio:
Willow Windflower is a recent graduate from the Art Institute of Chicago, where she studied modern art with a focus on abstract expressionism. Growing up, Willow was always drawn to the vibrant colors and bold brushstrokes of modern art, and she spent hours in her studio experimenting with different techniques and mediums.
After completing her degree, Willow moved to New York City to begin her career as an artist. She quickly caught the attention of the city’s vibrant art scene, and her work has been featured in several galleries and exhibitions. Willow’s paintings are known for their vibrant colors and expressive brushwork, and she often incorporates found objects and mixed media into her pieces.
In addition to her painting practice, Willow also teaches art classes at a local community center, where she shares her passion for modern art with aspiring young artists. She is constantly experimenting with new techniques and mediums, and she is excited to see where her art will take her next.
The Art:
Review of the art:
“The headphones hanging from the canvas in this piece immediately catch the eye with their bold, contrasting colors. Upon closer inspection, the artist’s clever use of negative space becomes apparent, creating a sense of depth and dimension within the composition.
The placement of the headphones is also thought-provoking, inviting the viewer to consider the role of technology in our lives. Overall, this is a vibrant and engaging piece that showcases the artist’s skill and unique perspective on modern society.”
How to run the scam
So using the Face Creator, GPT Chat and DALL-E we create a series of websites for each of our “artists”, we automate this and it will cost a bit of money to register all the domains, but the advantage is by creating the websites and the reviews we are able to create the impression of a huge number of artists who are engaged in our project.
Now we’ve got our artists, their portfolio. It’s time to release the scam.
The original piece
For each artist the objective is to create a “unique” piece that we’ve had them create, so for Willow here we’ve got her to create her first ever sculpture:
Title: The Power of Contrast
Art:
Review:
“The abstract 3D sculpture of a black donkey by this first-time artist is truly impressive. The use of negative space and the interplay of light and shadow create a sense of movement and depth within the piece. The artist’s skill in shaping the materials into the form of a donkey is particularly noteworthy, as the animal’s form is recognizable despite the abstract treatment.
The choice of a donkey as the subject matter is also interesting, as it adds a playful and whimsical element to the piece. Overall, this sculpture is a masterful first effort, and it showcases the artist’s talent and potential. I look forward to seeing more work from this exciting new artist in the future.”
The NFT
Now our NFT isn’t simply giving ownership of the image for the item, its also giving you the physical ownership of the asset in our bonded warehouse, but you can’t have it for 5 years, but you can sell the NFT of the right to it, which is just the same right?
Our NFT points to a contract stored on our own website, Otherside style, which hosts the image, and if you have the NFT yourself will provide access to the contract with the bonded warehouse for storage of your piece of art. Buying the NFT gives you the right to resell the piece, with ownership of the piece transferring with the NFT as a result of the contract to the bonded warehouse also moving with the NFT.
The bought pieces also feature in our Metaverse Gallery, a unique space which show cases the art. This will be built as soon as we work out how to create 3D images of the sculptures. But don’t worry, we’ve already discovered “variations” so we’re pretty sure we will be able to do that soon.
The Hype
Well for the hype we’re going to create a whole load of generative AI to create a real buzz on social media, using variations on the images and going all out
And of course the fawning love-ins when an NFT gets posted
Throw in a few GPT Chat bots into the discord server and we’re really creating the impression of massive news. Hell with some of the NFT and Crypto folks out there you’ll probably be able to get some of them to believe that it is real.
Generative AI makes Bored Apes look boring
At the heart of the scam though is the idea that there is real, genuine, art behind these things. Something that isn’t the case in most NFTs, beyond the high-profile cases like Beeple, most NFTs are script generated images. These don’t have any creativity. With our generative AI we can create a strategy bot that creates multiple artists, creates bios for those artists and then generates phrases that lead to art. We could even take commissions and suggestions. Like I’m a fan of the mighty Wolverhampton Wanderers, and I think Willow’s wolf playing football is just what I need.
But sure maybe you want a Bored Ape collection instead, because those are totally high value art…
Want a back-story for your bored ape? Sure, meet Gover…
Once upon a time, in a jungle far, far away, there lived a gorilla named Grover. Grover was different from the other gorillas in the jungle — he had a passion for music, and he spent his days beatboxing and freestyling to the beat of the jungle.
One day, a group of humans stumbled upon Grover’s jungle and were amazed by his talent. They decided to take him back to the city with them, where they transformed him into a rap star. Grover’s unique style and charm quickly made him a sensation, and he became the biggest rap star the world had ever seen.
But despite his fame and success, Grover quickly became bored with the human world. He missed the rhythms of the jungle and the freedom of the wild. So one day, he decided to leave it all behind and return to the jungle, where he continued to make music for the animals and the trees.
In the end, Grover was happy to have found his true calling, and he lived out the rest of his days in peace and harmony with the natural world.
Crap art is no-longer a problem for NFT Scammers
Now clearly my scam idea is a scam, but I wanted to show just how powerful these new generative AI models are. Creating stories and copy, creating images, both digital art and creating the impression that physical art exists.
I fully expect the next wave of NFT scams to leverage generative AI, it will help increase the number of variations, will make the images look more unique, and therefore engaging, and best of all will be able to generate ‘interesting’ copy associated with each of those images to further create an image of actual work and investment going in.
In one sense its almost a shame that generative AI only reached these stages after the NFT bubble collapsed, because had the two cooincided then we’d have seen some full scale industrialization behind these scams.
