Art is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as the expression of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. The human nature of art is the reason why many people have negative reactions when it comes to art generated by artificial intelligence.
“Honestly, the reaction I have to seeing AI art is just incredibly disappointing to me, since it’s so lifeless,” said senior Claire Duckett, a student at the Academies of Loudoun for Digital Animation and a student at J Art Studio. “Knowing a human puts their time, energy, and effort to create something makes art, art.”
AI has become widespread throughout all parts of society and can be used for many purposes. AI programs such as ChatGPT are growing more popular for everyday users, with ChatGPT accumulating 400 million active users weekly according to Backlinko. The creation of art by AI is a way to generate artwork that requires less human labor and time. This can hurt real artists that earn money for their artworks.
“Specifically in the art field, AI is taking so many artists’ jobs away,” said sophomore Yen Vuong, a member of the Art and Literature Magazine and student in the Computer Graphics class. “Programs that can create art in an instant means the loss of money for artists. Artists already struggle with making money since it relies on commissioning and time, so with AI to top it off, artists are losing even more money.”
Many AI art generators use databases of art made by real people. For example, users can choose to make artworks in the style of a specific artist. The AI model then uses a database of art from that person to replicate their style.
“It’s really disappointing that people are just taking other people’s works to turn it into something new, I say in heavy quotes, because [AI is] not just stealing basic ideas,” said Skylar Leonard, a student in various art classes such as Sculpture and Graphic Design. “You’ll see just the same art being made over and over, the same with music, because [AI is] not creative in the sense that people are. There’s no added individuality to it.”
Many AI art generators use databases of art made by real people. An example is Adobe Firefly which finds patterns in datasets of art to generate art. These art generators are trained using large databases of art to be able to create a variety of art styles.
“I feel like the government should put regulations on the databases that AI is getting everything from to prevent art stealing,” said Duckett. “Also, it should put regulations on what to generate. Like, you can’t generate specific prompts that could involve illegal activities or deep fakes.”
The idea of AI is relatively new, the term artificial intelligence only appearing in the mid-20th century. Currently, there are no federal regulations or laws specifically about AI in the United States according to White & Case, an international law firm.
