My opinion on AI made "art" is changing. It’s inevitable for AI to become a “medium” for some to make “art”. And - some will even buy this "art". I’m gonna call it "art" for lack of a better word. Whether to call it art or not, you get to decide that.
You the human who will be in the market to buy this "art".
Before you go nuts on me - let me clarify that I vehemently disagree with the stealing of art from artists and other creative folk to train these AI models like most big corporations are doing it these days. Consent is important. The only right way to use an artists work to train an AI model...any AI model...is with that artists explicit consent. Not the hidden deceptive sneaky shady kind of consent where you get no actual choice to say no. Not the kind of consent like Meta is offering up. The explicit no shit consent where no really means no. I can't say it enough times.
But - as an artist I’m at a point where it feels like a lost cause to retaliate against the lack of that option to give my consent. We don't have the option anymore to stop large corporations from stealing our art and its images. We can't say no. And, retaliate against what or who exactly?
- The government for not having stricter regulations?
- The corporations for being greedy AF?
- The legal system for being so slow in adapting itself to the new AI technology?
- The people who naively use AI to make “art”…not fully understanding where that magical image is coming from? Blinded by the ease of getting an image with the entry of a few phrases?
All this retaliation will need way more energy than I have...and sigh...I have very little to begin with.
I make physical art. AI hasn't exactly caught up to making physical art just yet. I don’t fully understand how digital art is made but digital art seems like it is in a more immediate danger than physical art is. At least right now. And, as of now, I am privileged enough to say that I make physical art and my audience isn’t huge. And my income from art isn’t huge yet. I cannot comment on what my fellow digital creators must be going through right now. I empathize with you. I can only imagine that its not easy to unpack the financial effects of AI made “art”.
The people who typically show an interest in my work or the kind of work I want to make…these people couldn’t care less about "art" made with AI. They are in it for the 1000s of mistakes I've made before I made the exact painting they connected with. They are in it for the textures. The imperfections. The being able to see art differently in different lighting due to the way light hits certain areas. They buy the joy and the pain….confusion and conflict and confidence…that an artist has felt while making that painting…and the 100s before that one.
I don’t think these people - my kind of people - will ever be convinced of the value of AI made “art” being equal to or more than art made by humans. They aren’t interested in just the final product. The journey taken by me to get to where I am…that got me making the kind of art I make? That journey matters to them. I wanna believe this, even if somewhat naively. And - this applies to digital art too I think. What do you say? All you digital artists - chime in.
I don’t know what AI will be capable of creating in the future. Will it do pottery? Sculptures? Blow glass? Make funky earrings? I don’t know….and maybe I shouldn’t care as much. If I stay home and don’t take that journey beyond today? Guess what? My story stops here. But that’s not what is going to happen. There’s more to this story than humans giving up on art making and sharing with other humans…just because AI started making "art" too. Fuck that.
You - the person who buys AI made "art" - I don’t make art for you. My art wouldn’t have spoken to you before AI started making "art" and it wouldn’t speak to you after AI. My art comes with my journey. The journey of humanity before me. You buy a little bit of that journey when you buy my work.
So, when you’re tired of all of your walls looking like the same soulless machine made "art" you cooked up…you can come to me. I'll be waiting. I'll still welcome you. You should find a human. Someone to connect with. You should come to an artist if you really want to connect with that little blob of color and we’ll show you what’s behind the curtain and...who knows? By then we might have charted a whole new and joyful path littered with connection to humanity. Maybe this time when you really look you’ll see yourself...in our kind of art. The human kind. The kind full of beautiful mistakes.
Because, you are still human. Aren't you?