The Animosity of Artists and AI

Last year, my brother thought I would be interested in testing his subscription-bought AI generation program. As an artist, I couldn’t help but think how ironic it is to toy with an AI art program. How could a simple technological program pose such a threat to my future?

Artificial intelligence (AI) uses machine learning and algorithms to process information accumulated from the Internet and simulate human intelligence. Tech bros praise AI innovations for decreasing the time and cost of producing art. However, artists denounce AI for “learning” from human artwork, thus plagiarizing artists’ styles and replacing human art commissions. Despite all attempts at discouraging its use, AI programs still generate work. ChatGPT, an AI writing program, generates ways to cheat in the academic sphere. Dall-E and Stable Diffusion, AI Art programs, generate products to sell in the free market economy. Humans are forced to compete against AI-generated artwork in the same arena: the art industry, fighting AI on a scale of appraisal.

Before we can comparingly appraise them, we must consider if machine-generated products are art. The word art comes from its Latin origin “ars” meaning “craft” or “skill.” Yet, finger paintings and stick figures are considered art despite the “lower” skills they require. Arguably, there