OpenAI added new image generation capabilities to their model recently and people went crazy with it. A popular trend was to convert personal photos into Ghibli images. Entire timelines were filled with Ghibli art. This started a debate about the use of AI to create art. This post is my contribution to this debate.
2 worlds of art
Before we dive into right or wrong, I present two different worlds where art is used:
The world of a kid
My 4-year old kid loves colouring. We keep buying drawing & coloring books. She keeps filling them at a rapid pace. Sometimes, me and my wife end up drawing pictures from the internet which she then colors.
The world of an entrepreneur
My bootstrapped organization can’t afford a designer. So we use Canva templates for creating social media content. Some of the templates might be created by humans, some by AI. We don’t care. We need to market our website at a low cost. Canva is helping us do that.
What’s the purpose of art?
For my daughter, art is a way to express herself. Or maybe it’s just plain fun for her (Kids don’t care about the philosophical meaning of art). If I were to tell her to stop drawing and coloring because an AI tool can do that, she’ll probably get mad because I am preventing her from doing what she likes.
For my organization, art is a way to market its product. There is a cost associated with it. For them, AI is a tool that can save time and money. If I were to tell them that art is “pure” and is supposed to be created by humans only, I would be labeled as old and would be told to learn how to change with time.
So, how you use art will decide whether you are pro or anti for AI art.
Is everything a business opportunity?
The purpose of art has always been to express oneself. If it invokes feelings in a larger audience, that’s great. This applies to all art forms: books, movies, paintings, etc.
But, artists need money too. So, commercial wrappers were created around these art forms. An art gallery, a bookstore, a theatre. Places where people could pay money to the artists and enjoy their art. Intellectual property and copyright laws were created to protect the artist's work.
So, art now has two aspects: personal and commercial.
If I were to paint the Mona Lisa and hang it on a wall inside my house, am I breaking any laws? Is it an insult to da Vinci that I copied his painting? I think not. Copying and mimicking an art shows appreciation towards that art form. da Vinci should be happy that people around the world think his art is worth copying and hanging in their homes. So, from a personal aspect, copying art is okay.
But, as soon as I start selling Mona Lisa copies, then, I might be breaking some copyright laws. Using someone’s idea and using it to make money is ethically and legally wrong. So, from a commercial standpoint copying art is wrong.
And it’s these 2 ideologies that are fighting over AI art.
People see AI art and one of the two ideologies gets triggered inside their head. A normal person who uses social media sees AI art as a new content form that can be posted online. An artist sees AI art and sees a threat to his work. A business person who deals in art will either be happy to see reduced cost in creating art or will be threatened by the lowered barrier in generating sellable art.
What aspect of AI art worries you?
Are you worried about copyright infringement? Are you worried about human artists losing their livelihood? Or maybe you just believe that art is meant to be created by humans only?
The first two concerns are understandable. Things are changing rapidly. We cannot predict the future at this point. And so, this uncertainty is bound to create mass hysteria.
But, if you care more about the source of art, then we are in disagreement. Art is either good or bad. It either evokes feelings in me or it doesn’t. Where it came from does not matter. A Mona Lisa is still a Mona Lisa if someone other than da Vinci makes it. If a good AI art moves you, it is definitely worth it.
Art Classes near me
While the world debates AI art online, the real world is filled with people who want to express themselves through their art. Making something by hand has a different feeling altogether. If you are one of those people and looking for an art class, consider visiting our art classes page and select "Near Me" or a city of your choice.
