On Art & AI | Is Artificial Intelligence Really Generating Art? NO.
Ali Kutlu?zen M.Sc.
Senior Software Engineer | Artificial Intelligence & Robotics Researcher
Congratulations to OpenAI on DALL-E 3. Works awesome, go try it.
Now, let's talk.
The more I dabble with arts and music, the more I come to realize that aside from the skill, there are two major components to art:
Time and soul.
Art needs to cost someone some precious and passionately spent time, and that person needs to feel something, joy or pain, while creating it. That is what we are paying for, that is what we can only empathize with after all; the human story behind the art.
If no one tells it, does a story even exist?
What AI creates is not and can never be art. However, the engineering and the science behind it is. We have studied the universe for millennia, parsed it with neatly crafted tools and ideas, built techniques and schools around it, all of which have brought us these amazing computers that can run algorithms to generate 'art' for us. This beautiful evolutionary process is art, and I'm truly impressed by it. It is pure blood, sweat, and good old cat-like human curiosity. That AI-generated high-res, high-fi cyberpunk picture that took 10 seconds and cost no one any time or emotion? No, not impressed. Only a nod of approval and that is all.
The more AI can generate near-perfect art, the more human art will become valuable.
I will stand behind and die by this statement. For now.
We can also tie this into the dreaded "will AI replace me?" question. For real artists, it's a resounding no. For any kind of mass production, yes, and we want it to! Robots and AI are replacing you for a good reason; we need a lot of goods and solutions, we need them fast. But for the unique human experience of creating something with passion? NO. We can't even describe how it makes us tick, let alone replace it with some technology. We can, however, enhance it with AI so we can express ourselves even better.
For something to be art, it has to flow through a human being. Someone has to feel something in the process so we have something to empathize with. It is the creator expressing himself, communicating a message to us that even he doesn't know yet. How exciting! What is AI telling us with "As an AI language model ...", huh? What did it feel when it generated you that blue space avocado? Nothing. --At least nothing we can measure for now, this is a topic for a Black Mirror episode I'll happily write and direct later.
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Hey, I'm loving this journey though. The more AI thrives, the more human I get to feel. Bring your best, AI. Make us question our humanity, or else we'll get way too comfortable with it, take it for granted, and forget about it. I'd root for Skynet for the same reason; an army of T-800s ought to teach us how to unite as humans alright!
Hoping that I made my point and now let's get back to coding autonomous tractors!
Art is pointless, art is meaningful, art is forever, art is.
Shameless plug. Check out my art and music:
Dear Reader,
Keep in mind that these are merely my opinions. Everything changes and I have to change with it. It's the law. So, my perspective is subject to change without prior notice. When that happens, I will change my stance and stand by the new value. Do not judge me, let's have a conversation instead. Or do judge, I will not care one bit because I will be enjoying my newly found opinion. Ah, happy to be alive!
Thank you for taking your time and reading this. Call your loved ones.
Ali Kutlu?zen