From an artistic standpoint there has been an age-old struggle for the artist to show the world the importance of art. Many events in history have seemingly threatened the understanding of and respect for visual art: perhaps the most notable of which being the invention of the camera and the dawn of photography. However, despite challenges like these, we as artists have managed to survive and maintain our identity even when the quest to do so has not always been easy.

Is AI a tool that enables us to quickly ideate and increase our productivity? Or is it a tool that satisfies a need for our would-be clients, and they therefore no longer seek our professional services and goods? For those whose livelihood depends on art-making (and by nature of the butterfly effect for the world at large) these are concerns of great consequence with wide-ranging implications. Through my own artistic experience of AI I hope to shed light on these pertinent questions.

To do that, let’s rewind time a little …

Over the past year AI has surged into the world’s attention, but my first exposure to this appearance occurred a few years before via the channel of a well-known Youtuber, Piximperfect and his introduction of a program called Dalle-2. He demonstrated AI’s ability to generate an image simply by inputting text. Nowadays almost everyone is familiar with this technology, but just a few years ago it was something relatively new. My first reaction was excitement at the possibilities this could bring to the field of art.

Following this find, I dabbled with AI using free programs. I reveled in the new discovery, letting my imagination run wild and testing the potential of AI, but after a few weeks of fervent interest I moved on.

In the weeks and months that followed I began to ponder the underlying question in the minds of most people: about whether or not AI could bring negative outcomes along with its potential for offering something good. Surely there is some good that the technology of AI could offer the world if it were used correctly, and in light of that, I decided to remain open to the viewpoint that its potential for bad should not equate to a one-sided stance against its usage without an open-minded consideration of the matter.

I renewed my Photoshop membership for a print illustration project in the summer of 2023. I had been using Procreate on the iPad for most projects, but this particular project required more screen real estate and pen pressure, so I dusted off my Cintiq and plugged it in. During that time Adobe had a Beta out which implemented their take on AI, offering the ability to generate content directly inside the Photoshop workspace. They also offered a similar tool for generating content from text in their Adobe Express platform.

Both of these tools were in my mind far more impressive than Dalle-2 (albeit my experience of Dalle-2 occurred at least a year before my experience of Adobe’s tools). The results yielded by Adobe were generally smoother and more realistic, and from these experiences I began to recognize the true artistic potential of AI.

Like with many things in life, the potential bad or potential good of any thing depends on how it is used by people, and on the matter of AI it seems to be a societal development that is here to stay. In that respect it’s our duty as a civilization to make ethical and moral use of this new tool. That is to say: if it is here to stay even if some of us do not use it, others certainly will use it, and we therefore have a say in its development. As an artist, I believe it is especially important to promote a good and ethical use of AI.

That raises a philosophical angle that could open up a broader discussion outside the scope of this blog post, but in short: most people would agree that the basic definition of a tool is something that is used to carry out a function, and not the other way around: the function serving the tool or being obscured by the tool. In that way it’s important to maintain everything in its proper order and to exercise moderation.

I certainly don’t want to focus on the negative uses of AI, but already some people have used it to trick others into believing something that isn’t true. In the art world an example of this would be a content creator who generates a portrait painting using AI and shares it on social media claiming to have painted it by hand in order to gain a following of people who have a genuine interest in original art. I think occurrences like that really show why it’s important that the world as a whole interacts with the technology of AI with a healthy dose of awareness and caution.

In a nutshell there we have the risk of AI, as well as guidelines to bring with us like a compass as we travel into the era of AI in order to use it correctly. What are your thoughts when you ponder the topic of AI in relation to the world of art and how do you see AI playing out in the art historical context? Share this blog along with your thoughts via your favorite platform.

Until next time, May God bless you and keep you.