Skyline art professors reflect on AI arts

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By Joshua D. Picazo Editor-in-Chief

Artificial intelligence art, commonly referred to as “AI art,” has been the talk of the art world for the last few months.

With both opponents and fierce proponents, arguments are being made that it can hurt artists’ livelihoods and assist the future of art.

“I think there will always be a place for anything that includes human input and ideas, which it seems to [have] with AI art,” said Eileen David, who teaches painting at Skyline College.

“I have artist friends who utilize it although I am not interested in doing that, I respect their process. I do not, however, think that it’s ok for AI to use art from other artists’ creations. It does seem like perjury. I wouldn’t be too happy to find out my art was used in this fashion without my permission,” David added.

Amir Esfahani, who teaches introduction to web design, mural painting, and digital art, disagrees with the opposing views of AI art.

“I think all technology over time tends to advance, and with these advancements, some parts of the industries go away while others just begin. In this case, with AI, I am not quite sure whether it will be beneficial to the digital artist or not.

I know AI will create new jobs for artists, programmers, and designers,” Esfahani said.

One criticism of AI art has been the accusations that it steals artists’ work in order to create pieces that are then sold by a third party that neither credits nor pays that artist. In February, U.S. Copyright offices said that the AI system Midjourn-