GenAI Art and Human Creation

I have an 18-year-old nephew who is a brilliant state medal-winning artist. Right now, we are going through the final stages of college planning, with a host of art-related scholarship competitions on the horizon. Almost all of them have involved some form of essay in which he has shared his desire to not only major in art but also have an impact on future artists through teaching, which I find commendable, of course.

Months ago, as the speed of AI drove people all over the world to create their avatars in all fantasy forms, I was curious but also hesitant after seeing artists on Twitter exclaiming that their work had been used without permission to train these very systems and even worse, often commercially without pay.

In our home, just as I was prepared to purchase my own set of avatars, I heard my nephew lecturing another family member about why this was not good for the future of art, along with a very clear warning that we would all be disowned if he caught us joining that particular social media bandwagon.

I admired him even more for that.

AI and the Impact on Artists

Lately, I've been playing with Adobe Firefly, as it is a tool that is meant to be mindful of artists, offering them practical uses of AI to further enhance their work. Downloaded images also include a disclaimer that the art was generated, which is good, except a screenshot bypasses that disclaimer entirely, which gets to the heart of when AI works and doesn't. Honesty is an important indicator, I think.

I've watched my nephew spend months on paintings and weeks on digital art, so forgive me for being quite annoyed at people who see AI art generation as a means to make art and bypass artists. That idea actually sucks just as much as using AI to bypass all other forms of creativity, eliminating the human component... at least for those who choose to navigate AI in this way. I do not.

I wonder what happens to people like my nephew, who have dedicated their lives to this gift they have been given and/or developed, only for many GenAI art "creatives" to act as if their work is no longer valid or needed. I don't believe that for a second, and that is why I still have such a tough time committing to the art side of GenAI, much like I do not wish to read an AI-drafted book.

Don't get me wrong, I do still enjoy playing with these tools for personal fun, but when it comes to purposeful personal or commercial work, I hope that we all still seek out, consult, and pay artists. To me, that part is exceptionally critical for the future of artists everywhere.

To be inspired by GenAI art is one thing. It's amazing that a line of text can generate art but I hope that we can take a step back and consider the work that was used to train these systems to create in this way. I have a feeling that these people who have given their heart and soul to their craft might have a thing or two to say.

Normally, I like to leave my learnings at the end of these posts. Instead, I will leave a few pieces of my nephew's work as shared on his social media.