Artificial Intelligence and Art - Part 1

For some time now, I have been having endless talks in my head, alone, about artificial intelligence in the world of art, illustration and visual communication in general. Now I'm getting brave: I decide to talk about it (even though this could open an endless debate... but whatever: it's inevitable!). 

What is artificial intelligence in art?

Perhaps this is a new topic for you, so let me make a very brief introduction on the subject. Artificial intelligence is a system, a software, that simulates human reasoning and over time learns, improves and refines itself. 

For some time now, generative programmes have sprung up. They use artificial intelligence to create new images that never existed before from written descriptions. These are not collages of existing images, but genuine new, original images.

These software allow you to create any image you have in mind, simply by describing it: you no longer need to be an excellent photographer and be in the right place at the right time with the right light; you no longer need to train for years to learn a painting technique to create a portrait; all you need to do is learn how to communicate with artificial intelligence, how to describe a scene and what keywords to use to obtain the desired image. 

picture: Wikimedia commons JASON ALLEN VIA MIDJOURNEY

This image was generated with artificial intelligence and caused quite a stir because it won an art competition in August 2022. Is it right that the tool with which an image is created also determines the value or validity of the artwork itself? Should the tool, in the case of artificial intelligence, be treated differently from other tools such as watercolours or oil paintings?

The ethical problem of artificial intelligence

There are a couple of aspects of the use of artificial intelligence in the visual world that are, however, ethically questionable: 

1. Using artists' works to train artificial intelligence, without their consent

Let's say we feed the works of an artist to artificial intelligence, so that the programme can study his style, his way of composing images, his subjects, his use of colour. After all, it is an educational use, there is nothing wrong with that.... The difference, however, lies in the fact that the owners of these artificial intelligences charge for using their programme, so they also make money on the use of these works of art, without accounting to those who created those works, perhaps with years of effort. Is it right to profit from works created by others, without their consent?

2. Giving the opportunity to recreate an artist's style

After artificial intelligence has thoroughly studied the style of an artist, it is very easy to create a new image using his style. Take for example an extremely famous artist such as Van Gogh: simply make a correct description to the image creation programme and create a sunset version of the famous work 'Starry Night'. Who owns the rights to this new work? Can I sell this image as 'mine'?

3. Whose motherhood/paternity is the artificial intelligence-generated image?

As with the image that won the art competition in 2022, to whom can the motherhood/paternity of a generated work be attributed? To whom provided the source description? To whom did it programmed and trained or instructed? To the artists who provided, with or without consent, their works for the artificial intelligence to learn?

picture: partial screenshot of the Midjourney site, with some generated artworks

Opportunity or threat?

Artificial intelligence is a tool, a technology, and as such it is neither bad nor good: it is the use that is made of it that can be good or bad. I am convinced that the world goes on and technology evolves anyway, but what changes is the education that is given to the people who use these tools, as well as a legal framework in which one can move.

Personally, I do not feel threatened as an artist: perhaps because I move mainly in the physical-traditional realm, where the materiality of watercolour and ink form the basis for my works. On the other hand, I am fascinated and attracted by this technology, and I wonder what it could do for me, how I could exploit it or use it to my advantage. 

So this is the direction: a friend who dribbles technology and feels the same fascination towards this subject proposed me to experiment with artificial intelligence, and so we decided to embark on this adventure that I will tell in future posts.