Can AI Create Art?

by Tessa P

A person can feel more representation in these machine-generated works of art than in any manmade creation.

For those who don't know, artificial intelligence (AI) is a computer that has been trained on lots of data to produce texts or music in a fraction of the time it would take for a human.

I want to explain something I've been thinking about recently, especially because of this new AI filter on TikTok that I'm sure some of you will have used. The filter prompts you to type in a word or phrase, and allows the AI to create intricate artworks in seconds.

This made me question whether I had created the art, as it was my idea, or was it the programmer of the Ai? Furthermore, could it have been the AI itself? So after a lot of research, I found that there are many people who view AI as a tool; and others who view it as a threat.

From the point of view of an artist, this creates concern for the future of creative jobs, and a belief that artist skills, which were already undervalued, are now overshadowed by this tech. AI leaves artists with a new competition. AI can also dive into illegal territory, because large companies can see an idea, type it into an AI generator and obtain similar results without paying or crediting the person who came up with the idea.

However, people argue that it is only taking ideas from art as humans do. We all look at each other's creations for inspiration, whether it be for style, execution subject etc. All humans feed off one another, so why can't AI? Machines have been fed millions upon millions of pieces of human endeavour and are now using this to create their own works. If it is their own work, that is.

Where Does This Leave Artists?

Although they are faced with this competition, this threat, this fear of being replaced, this is the same way painters felt when photography became the new way of capturing the world 200 years ago. Also, in other industries like graphic design, inspiration has been drawn from AI since 2017 and machines have been creating first drafts of products for years.

Now, another large argument is that art is not art if it does not convey emotion. However, when AI is prompted with deep and raw topics like mental health, it produces extremely accurate and detailed works of art with a high emotional response. A person can feel more representation in these machine-generated works of art than in any manmade creation. The strange thing about this development is that anyone can now crate art with a simple thought when typed into an AI becomes an oddly specific illustration, that although not drawn or conceptualised by a human, would not exist without one.

So in my opinion, AI generated art can still be perceived as art, just another type of art. However, I don't think we should value it the same as human art just yet. Maybe in the future there will be advancements and humans may be more involved with the art or be given credit for it. Only then will I value it the same way.