The AI art controversy...What is it how has it affected the artisits of this generation?

Ted Chiang, an article writer, questions what AI art will become, "Right now, the fiction generated by large language models like ChatGPT is terrible, but one can imagine that such programs might improve in the future. How good could they get? Could they get better than humans at writing fiction—or making paintings or movies—in the same way that calculators are better at addition and subtraction?"

Beneficial or Harmful?

AI generated art has just become as simple as pressing a button on a screen. Tools such as Stable Diffusion and Dall-E have democratized art creations by allowing anyone to generate complex, realistic art simply by typing in a prompt. For some this may be a goldmine, manipulating images to their desire, using tools like Photoshop while still using their creative thinking.

However, many artists view this as a high tech form of "plagiarism." They feel threatened by these new tools. How will they make money? How will they fend for themselves? All of this is taken away simply by online tools that can help anyone these days make art. You don't need a degree, the skill, or even that many resources to create art. More importantly, these AI models are essentially learning and reproducing styles from existing human work. 

This concern isn't limited to physical pieces of art, but also music. 

Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, caused a stir a few months ago. He announced that the Grammy Awards would accept music made with artificial intelligence. 

"It’s a bit of a fine line, but that’s going to evolve,” he said about how the Academy is assessing the use of artificial intelligence in music. “My hope is that we can continue to celebrate human creativity at the highest level.” 

Everyone is concerned: Will AI replace me? What happens to copyright? Royalties? To the hard work I’ve put into my craft? Mason said there are indeed concerns sweeping the industry. Some people are scared, while others are excited. Some artists are sending cease-and-desist letters to get unauthorized deep fakes of themselves taken down, while others are embracing their AI versions — so long as they get paid. 

Greg Rutkowski

Greg Rutowski is an artist who has become well known for his highly detailed digital paintings which have been very influential on recent AI art generators. 

In the last few years, tools like Dall-E and Stable Diffusion have become skilled at imitating Rutowski's artwork, essentially "encoding" his art style. Rutowski didn't directly give consent for AI to use his artwork, instead his art was taken from the internet without his knowledge. 

This has led to copyright concerns, and using artist's work without permission. Rutowski has expressed mixed feelings about seeing his art "stolen." He is concerned about the legal and ethical problems this might imply. 

AI Art vs. Human Art

Critics are stating that AI-generated art lacks a certain emotional depth and feeling that human art has. It doesn't bring about the same emotional and personal touches that human art brings to the table. Despite AI-generated art being more aesthetically appealing and giving a sense of otherworldliness, it is essentially a product of machine learning algorithms fed with human art. 

Citations:

Cee, Ray. “Exploring the AI Art Controversy.” RayCee the Artist, 3 April 2024, https://www.rayceeartist.com/post/ai-art-controversy. Accessed 2 September 2024.

Chiang, Ted. “Why AI Isn't Going to Make Art.” New Yorker, The New Yorker, 31 August 2024, https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/why-ai-isnt-going-to-make-art. Accessed 2 September 2024.

Davis, Dominic-Madori. “Grammy CEO says music industry also has AI concerns.” Tech Crunch, Tech Crunch, 31 August 2024, https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/31/grammy-ceo-says-music-industry-also-has-ai-concerns/. Accessed 2 September 2024.

Mineo, Liz. “Is art generated by artificial intelligence real art?” Harvard Gazette, 15 August 2023, https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/08/is-art-generated-by-artificial-intelligence-real-art/. Accessed 2 September 2024.