Claude Monet, AI, and Human Experience

On our recent visit to France last month, I found myself standing on the very cliffs at Etretat that Monet once painted over a hundred forty years ago. Claude Monet, one of the pioneers of Impressionism, painted around 90 stunning works at the cliffs of étretat. His ability to capture the interaction of light, weather, and time on the iconic cliffs remains remarkable. These paintings, now housed in various private collections and museums, transport us into his world of fleeting moments and changing natural conditions.

Surrounded by many aspiring artists, I reflected on how much the tools at our disposal today differ from those of Monet’s time. While these artists took their time capturing the scene, setting up their easels and selecting their brushes, I could photograph the same landscape with a quick press of a button. Technology has made the process of capturing a scene instantaneous, transforming an activity that once required days into a momentary task.

This stark difference prompted me to consider the relationship between productivity, efficiency, and the deeper value of human experience, especially in the context of our modern world, where technology—including AI—has revolutionized how we approach creative and intellectual tasks.

Monet’s Challenge: Capturing a Dynamic Landscape

For Monet, the cliffs of étretat posed a significant challenge. The landscape, constantly shifting with the weather, light, and tides, meant that no two moments were the same. Monet had to wrestle with time and nature, adapting his work to reflect the ever-changing conditions. He sometimes had to ride in fishing boats, sketching the cliffs and waves, then returning to his home to record these images in his paintings. He returned to the same locations repeatedly, sometimes for weeks, to ensure he captured the precise quality of light or mood he sought.

Monet’s process was inherently slow and deliberate. He didn’t just record a static image—he painted his perception of the moment, bringing an emotional response and his subjective experience into his work. This human element is what gives Monet’s paintings their lasting appeal. The long hours, the observation, and the personal connection to the scene were vital to the creative process.

Modern Efficiency and Its Trade-Offs

As I stood there with my camera, able to capture the same cliffs in a fraction of a second, I couldn’t help but reflect on the immense gap between my instant click and Monet’s painstaking effort. With the technology at my fingertips, I could freeze an entire landscape in time. Yet, that instant photograph, while useful and precise, lacked the depth of feeling and connection that Monet’s work embodies.

This contrast serves as a broader metaphor for how modern technology, including AI, has transformed the nature of work and creativity. We prize efficiency and speed in our current age, and for good reason—our tools allow us to do in seconds what once took days or months. AI can generate complex images, analyze vast data sets, or compose music at an astonishing pace, allowing us to achieve incredible levels of productivity.

Yet, this efficiency comes with a trade-off. The quickness of AI-generated output lacks the slower, reflective process that human creativity requires. Monet’s paintings were not just about the cliffs themselves; they were about his experience of the cliffs, his response to light and time, and his emotional connection to the landscape.

AI, Human Experience, and Creativity

While AI has the potential to revolutionize many fields, it ultimately depends on human experience for its learning and development. In other words, the foundation of AI’s efficiency and productivity is built upon the very human experience that technology seeks to replicate or enhance. Every AI-generated painting, story, or piece of music is a reflection of the knowledge and creativity humans have already brought into the world.

Monet’s paintings, and the process behind them, offer a critical reminder that human creativity is not simply about producing output. It is about experiencing the world, forming emotional and intellectual connections, and expressing something unique through that experience. AI might be able to replicate certain tasks efficiently, but it cannot experience the cliffs of étretat as Monet did. It cannot feel the wind, sense the changing light, or internalize the emotional weight of a scene, at least not yet.

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