Could AI-generated artwork put you out of a job?
We’re nearing 2023, does anything come as a surprise to us now?
One of the most recent trends in technology sees the introduction of apps and software that use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create artwork just by typing your thoughts into a text box.
These AI Art Generators have taken the world by storm in 2022, with many people sharing their creations across social media platforms. You may be familiar with one of the trending apps of 2022, DALL-E 2. Created by Open AI in April this year, DALL-E 2 uses ‘prompts’ provided by the user to create artwork in high resolutions of up to 3.5 billion parameters. The software utilises the algorithm within the words and places them in a series of vectors or text-to-image embeddings. It takes the image embeddings and generates an accurate depiction of the sentence, whilst also adding details such as shadows and reflections to make the images even more realistic. So, if you need an image of a cowboy fox in space? AI has got you covered in a matter of seconds.
Another trend you might have recently noticed across your feeds are various portraits of your friends and family as fairies, princesses, or Renaissance-style paintings. But where have these arisen from?
Lensa AI is a newly populated app that takes your selfies and photographs to create portraits in a variety of styles, and it has certainly proven popular amongst the public. Although many people are put off by the yearly subscription of £36.99, with a one-week trial period costing you £1.79 you can bag yourself with 50 avatars inspired by yours truly, consisting of 10 images in 5 different styles. Like other AI-generated apps, Lensa AI has caused controversy amongst artists, with many upset that their style has been replicated. Despite this, they have no choice but to remain quiet, you can’t copyright a style after all.
But why should artists be concerned?…
Over the years, the use of Artificial Intelligence has gathered a reputation of replacing jobs in several fields, and with the application now being applied in art and animation whilst being available in a much shorter time frame than those created from scratch, many artists are worried that AI might soon replace human activity. I wouldn’t fret though, as its most likely too soon to determine whether these apps will end up costing artists and illustrators their jobs.
Although it is unlikely that AI will ever truly replace art, it is already clear that they are being put to good use in the creative industry, with some even winning prizes…
According to the New York Times, an entrant at the 2022 Colorado State Fair’s annual art price knocked the competition with a piece of artwork he generated using ‘Midjourney’, an AI programme that turns lines of text into hyper-realistic graphic images. His artwork named ‘’ Théâtre D’opéra Spatial” reigned victorious in taking home the blue ribbon for emerging digital artists and was one of the first-ever AI-generated artworks to win a prize. Not everyone was delighted though, with many artists claiming he cheated. This didn’t cost him his prize though, with the fair even uploading a tweet defending the artwork which states “The digital art category at the Fine Arts competition has people talking! At the Colorado State Fair, we think this brings up a great conversation. With advancing technology, the discussion of AI and art helps the Fair evolve from year to year.”
In conclusion, despite the many controversies it has caused amongst artists, it could be argued that AI could never replace the artist, this is because the true definition of art is to portray a message, emotion, or concept using creativity and self-expression. Not to mention the fact that even with AI as an option, a human will always be required to choose the subject matter that prompts the image; meaning that the piece will always be somewhat man-made.