Recently, an AI-generated image won an art prize and stirred debate within the industry regarding using tech tools to create art. Read on for the deets.
The
Prize
During the Colorado State Fair's annual art competition this year, prizes were offered to all the
usual categories: painting, quilting, and sculpture. One entrant, Jason M.
Allen of Pueblo West, Colo., did something out of the box and created his
painting with Midjourney. This artificial intelligence program turns lines of
text into hyper-realistic graphics.
His work, "Théâtre
D'opéra Spatial," took home the blue ribbon in the fair's contest meant
for emerging digital artists. It is now one of the first A.I.-generated pieces
to win such a prize. As you might have guessed, the award initiated a backlash
from artists who accused him of cheating.
Mr. Allen
defended his work and said that he submitted his work as "Jason M. Allen
via Midjourney" so he didn't hide the fact that his piece was created
using AI. He said, "I'm not going to apologize for it. I won, and I didn't
break any rules."
The
Backlash
After
winning the prize, he posted a photo of his prize work to the Midjourney
Discord chat, which was shared on Twitter. Some people didn't take it well. One
Twitter user wrote, "We're watching the death of artistry unfold right
before our eyes." Another tweet read, "This is so gross. I can see
how AI art can be beneficial, but claiming you're an artist by generating one?
Absolutely not."
Defense
Some
artists defended Mr. Allen by saying that using AI was no different than using
other digital image manipulation tools like Photoshop. They said that human
creativity is still required to come up with the right prompts that help
generate an award-winning image.
One of the
voices that defended A.I.-generated art is Daniel Rourke. He is a lecturer in digital media
at Goldsmiths university in London. He said, "AI is just a set of tools composed
of algorithms, data, and interfaces. As we come to terms with AI in many
aspects of our lives, so—as happened with computers or so-called 'new media'—the
idea and the tool itself will partially fade into the background. Artists will
play a big part in aestheticizing AI; in making it comprehensible to a wider
audience. In the meantime, there will be good and bad art made with these AI
tools."
Offense
Some
artists feared that the new AI image generator breed might take their jobs, and
they might have wasted so many years learning their craft.
California-based
movie and game concept artist RJ Palmer shared in a tweet, "This thing
wants our jobs, it's actively anti-artist.", That tweet has been liked
more than 25,000 times.
He also
highlighted that AI systems' output could easily imitate living artists. He
said that in one case he examined, the AI even attempted to reproduce the
signatures of the artists.
The
Announcement
After the
backlash, several online art communities, like Inkblot Art and Newgrounds' Art
Portal, have announced that they will not welcome A.I.-generated artworks on
their websites. However, DeviantArt, ArtStation, and other larger platforms
have made no such announcement.
Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-62788725
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/02/technology/ai-artificial-intelligence-artists.html
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/ai-generated-art-debate-2175570