Playing Devil’s Advocate for AI Art

When I open Instagram, once in a while, I come across someone’s story and read their warning to “change your privacy settings so Meta doesn’t use your data/pictures for AI images”. More commonly, I scroll and find posts denouncing AI and its potentially negative impact on artists. In art-focused Discord servers, the thought of discussing AI art even as a tool is looked down upon. It’s gotten to the point that even the term “AI Art” isn’t universally accepted; some prefer “AI-generated imagery” due to the strong association between art and humans, rather than bots.

Not unlike others, I initially wasn’t thrilled with AI having the ability to almost instantly replicate exactly what would take me a couple of days to draw. It felt demeaning. Adding insult to injury, these AI models are being trained using the work that artists have spent so long creating, without permission. This phenomenon can be incredibly demotivating for artists who’ve spent years practicing their skills. In some cases, artists are being replaced with AI to create advertisements online. AI art is already flooding the marketing industry with text-to-speech voices and fake videos of people promoting products. Anything made by AI, in terms of visual aesthetics, is growing to the same level as human-made content, since it’s being utilized so much in marketing.

Although the use of AI is not universally favored, especially in advertisements, at this point, regardless of ethical concerns, AI art is here to stay, and we need to learn to live with it. It is only fair to acknowledge that there are many potentially advantageous outcomes associated with an internet filled with AI art.

I used to believe that AI imagery would only encourage people to think less about the meaning behind art. If AI art outweighs human art in the creative industry, then what would be the point of feeling the story behind its creations? The truth is, AI doesn’t create this problem, nor does it solve it. The issues only continue. AI mass-produces images, which in turn creates more pieces for people to overlook. Not everyone will be invested in art, and there will always be people who overlook it, whether it is human-made or not. Because of this, people do not need to care about whether or not an image is AI-generated because they’ll pass it in life so casually that it’s not even essential to mull over. If one truly cares about a piece of work, that is when it matters, because only then will they discover whether it is made with passion and skill, or just AI-generated. From there, the observer’s own opinions can be formed about the artwork. Regardless of how much AI art spreads throughout the world, there will always be art created by humans that humans favor. If there is a world with more AI art than human-made art, it only makes human-made art more appreciated and treasured for those who do not overlook art.

The reason people are concerned about AI-generated art is that it is challenging to distinguish between what is human-made and what is AI-generated behind our screens. Art is born out of human experience; people who have lived lives and have a story to tell. AI, no matter how much data it is trained on or how much it can try to convince you it can create art, will never replace the humanity that breathes air into real art. AI art can never replace humans, as they lack that essential touch.

Outside of individually created art, graphic designers who work for a company use AI to their advantage. Not every company is replacing its graphic designers with AI. It is being used as a tool to help graphic designers develop their ideas. Humans are absolutely needed to convey abstract emotions and ideas for companies, and that is something AI can never genuinely mimic, because AI lacks the capacity for feelings and depth. Generating AI imagery to inspire the creation of artworks is not immoral or “cheating”. Just as people draw inspiration from various designers, taking inspiration from AI can follow a similar approach. AI strives for aesthetic perfection in its art, based on algorithms that essentially mimic the styles of other artists. Although there can be obvious flaws in its image generation (ahem, hands), using this tool for sketching out ideas for one’s own artistic development is beneficial. Let’s say, you’re scrolling endlessly through Google Images or Pinterest for the perfect reference image for a pose or outfit you want to draw. Sometimes, there is never that ideal image. Normalizing AI as another reference point saves time and frustration. In this case, AI can be utilized to support human creativity and skill development. Human creativity will only be encouraged if we do not treat AI as such a threat.

AI art can foster meaningfulness, community, and niche development for human-made pieces by being used to support skillful development. The drive for humans to create is too strong for the creative population to be replaced by AI. Since AI is here, and it looks like it's here to stay, we can look at the positive benefits of its existence and how it can help humans in their artistic endeavors.