From a utilitarian approach, which I prefer, something is art as long as it can serve the purpose of art. If the pop and abstract arts of 20th century could be deemed as art and take place in the gallery with zero aesthetic value to 99% viewers, A.I. generated art is definitely getting the job done in a more effective way. We need to remember, in 1917, a porcelain urinal was displayed in gallery as art, titled "the fountain" by Marcel Duchamp.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
As to the question of who artist is, my argument is it falls into 2 categories, based on how you use the AI.
1. Co-creation: here the artist (or prompt-engineer) sets the parameter of what to create loosely, with not a lot of control over the outcome. This is what we most often see people making using #MidJourney or #DallE. The artist specifies the subject, setting, elements, style, and the AI produces. The artist keeps rolling and rerolling until we find something that suits their expectation. You can argue the human artist is not doing much here, but the work starts and ends with them, so the origination and curation both happens here. However, the AI here is not merely a tool, as as tool should provide consistent output based on how the craftsman uses it. AI always puts some soul of its own into the final result. So I prefer to call this co-creation.
2. Creation / AI as a tool: here the artist exercises a higher degree of control over the output, being able to specify what to make and how to make, and provide with a predictable output each time. My photo with this post aims more towards using AI as a tool, using #stablediffusion. I reiterated from the same basic photo of my choice, into different variations of styles and elements to my liking. Of course the element of co-creation is there, but the influence of the artist's intention is much more apparent. It is how an artist may throw paint on a canvas, not knowing exactly where a droplet will fall, but with a higher degree of control over the output.
Last, the question of inspiration and copyright is also something that is being challenged formally at this moment. Even though the way these AI are taught are no different than an artist studying the masters diligently, a machine helping us definitely speeds everything up. I do understand living artists do not approve of their art style suddenly being copied by millions very accurately overnight with little individual effort. It remains to be seen how this pans out.
On the topic of whether this is good or bad for art in general, I have my own thoughts, let me know your opinion and I will share something in a follow-up post.
Radi
September 2022
Dhaka
P.S. I have been drawing since 1997 and working with digital art since 2003. Still a hobbyist but I do love this hobby.
#ai #art #artist