Saying that generative AI is a widely discussed topic is almost an understatement at this point. But it is never discussed as controversially as when it comes to art. There are quite a few big industries such as video games, news media or advertisement that rely heavily on various forms of artistic assets. People who make a living by creating these assets are among the most vocal critics of generative AI, as they fear their livelihood to be taken away from them. But it’s not just them, as smaller artists complain about their work being stolen to train generative models and the number of commissions dwindling. Even non-artists join the outcry as they sympathize with the artists they love and fear that they might lose the financial backing to continue their art, not to mention the heaps of AI slop they need to scroll past to find some of that human created artistic goodness. But while I don’t want to dismiss these people and their feelings are totally valid, I can’t help but notice a pattern I’ve seen many times before.
This pattern emerges every time there is a new technology. And although you probably know where I’m getting at, let me summarize it real quick. New technologies come with change, change to what we can do and how we do it. The old way of doing things becomes obsolete and gets pushed out by the new approaches which often require completely different skills, less skills and usually a lot less labor overall. This makes people upset who have invested in the old way of doing things, like it better, or are simply afraid of change. A cynic might call them luddites as they are fighting a battle that was lost the instant it started. It’s indisputable that this pattern exists, but can this really apply to this situation as well? Is something as inherently human as art really replaceable by technology? What will even be left of humanity if we take that away? These are powerful questions but ultimately misguided by false expectations of what generative AI actually does.
Generative AI does not replace the inherently human aspects of art. Art is a form of communication, a language to express things that our spoken languages never could. Just like AI can reproduce spoken language it can also reproduce art, but language without a speaker is as meaningless as random letters from a typewriter operated by a monkey. It might look more like language, maybe it looks like a letter asking you if you want to meet for lunch, but if you go to the restaurant there’s nobody there. Sure, the AI generated image looks like it expresses the solitude of a lone walk across the park on a hazy morning in spring, but who do these feelings belong to? Art was never about the technique, the medium, or even the effort invested in it, it was always about people and what they are feeling. The rest is just a craft. And crafts go hand in hand with technology.
Let’s try a thought experiment. Imagine you have a friend you frequently text with. Recently, they’ve been sending you images of wilted flowers, people lying face down on the floor and a house that has collapsed under its own weight, accompanied by messages saying that these pictures express perfectly how they are feeling. The images are powerful, but clearly AI generated. Would you be worried about your friend? Would you consider these images when trying to understand how they are feeling or would you just dismiss them because they are “AI slop”. Of course you would, because your friend is important to you and they generated these images for a reason. It’s an act of communication between two human beings in a language they might not be able to speak without generative AI. Maybe even a more effective one than they could speak otherwise.
Does that mean artists have nothing to worry about? Unfortunately not. A big part of pursuing art as a profession is crafting. Much of that crafting can be done by generative AI in a way that is indistinguishable from how a human could do it so the manual way of doing it just doesn’t make sense anymore. By that I don’t mean that all artistic assets will be replaced by AI slop, but that an artist who uses AI tools will be able to complete more projects than an artist who doesn’t. There’s nothing stopping people from doing things the old fashioned way, but once the initial backlash fades, the industry will shift and AI tools will become more and more common in workplaces of professional creatives. If used correctly, it is just another tool to boost an artist's output and as long as the artist remains in control of what that output is there is nothing inherently wrong with that.
But what about all the mindless AI slop all over social media? Well, that is there because it works. And the fact that it works shows that nothing about those platforms was about art in the first place. All it ever was about is dopamine. It was never a form of communication between an artist and their audience but just of doom-scrollers with themselves. It’s fine if artists are not complicit in the exploitation of those primitively addicted to the unending stimuli emanating from their screens. It would probably be even better if society realized that maybe we just shouldn’t have this happen in the first place.
So if you’re an artist: great! Do whatever you want, that’s what art is all about. Explore 19th century weaving techniques if that’s what you’re interested in. The spectrum of human creativity is endless and technology can unlock new areas of it but never removes them. However, if you’re planning on earning money with your craft, you better go and learn about AI tools or you’ll be left behind. If that makes you unhappy, it might not actually be the AI but the money making part you take issue with. And if you’re not an artist but someone who just appreciates art, awesome! Go and support the artists you like by engaging with their content, buying their merchandise or even direct donations. Now would be a great moment to tell you how to support bird.lol, but you can’t and don’t need to. I have the luxury of earning my money by other means and pursuing art as a pure passion, something I wholeheartedly recommend.
Nobody wants AI slop, it’s an artifact of obsession to monetize everything. Maybe *that* is what we should reconsider.
