AI "Art"

Sat, Apr 19, 2025
10-minute read

IMO Tech

AI, AI, AI, every day we hear this term, all the technology now has to have this term, or it won’t sell, billions are being invested in it every day. You turn on the TV, you are on the web, AI everywhere but this you already know.

Before discussing AI ‘Art,’ we need to discuss what AI is. AI is artificial intelligence, a technology that is supposed to help, advise, or automate a process. There is no real AI yet, and I sincerely hope there will never be. If there is, please integrate the 3 rules of robotics well, or we risk creating a Skynet. Does anyone know where John Connor is, a “friend” asked.

“A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.”

AI is nothing new, in fact we can say since computers exists AI exist. In the primordium AI where just a bunch of conditions the programmer put in code. So what changed? Neural Networks and speed of computing, a neural network “learns”, hey what is 1+1? 1, no it’s not it’s 2, hey what is 1+1? 2, hey what’s 2+1?2, no it’s not it’s 3. now imagine this but millions of times per second and saving the result in permanent memory. This is one type of AI.

If you want to know more about AI there is a great article from IBM here.

But let’s go to the subject that brings us here, AI ‘Art’, notice the apostrophes? That’s because there is no consensus if AI ‘Art’ can be considered art.

Let’s delay a little more the Artists/Copyright vs AI ‘Art’ and go back in time, do you know that history is repeating itself?

When in 1820 photography was announced, during decades there was hatred and fear from painters

“The fear has sometimes been expressed that photography would in time entirely supersede the art of painting. Some people seem to think that when the process of taking photographs in colors has been perfected and made common enough, the painter will have nothing more to do.” Henrietta Clopath, 1901

Well did it happen? No. Did photography supersede paiting. Nop it didn’t. Paintings are still sold for millions and except in rare cases a photograph is already lucky enough if it’s sold for a dozen thousands. Everyone can be a (amateur) photographer but not everyone can be a painter. The difference in skill needed is over 9000.

Don’t get me wrong what a mortal can do with a smartphone camera and a pro can do with a smartphone camera is like scaling Mount Everest, and if you give pro equipment to the photographer it’s like going to space. But in painting, if you tell me to paint it will look like a bad pictionary game, at least with a smartphone I can take a somewhat acceptable photo of something that will be discernible.

Now let’s start the war.

Let’s start with the most common arguments against AI “Art”

They are stealing my art

Yes, No and the hypocrisy is strong with this one.

Let’s decompose by every option.

Yes: Some models like diffusion models, can literally make carbon copies of an artist, you give them a dataset of images, and manually categorize (ain’t nobody got time for that) the images, yes it’s not automatic like most artists things, someone at some points, picked hundreds of images and told the AI, this image has hands, legs, hair, etc. It’s a really boring and time-consuming process. These models are the ones that really steal artists, but also the ones who are not available to the common of mortals, you need some tech expertise and a good computer to use.
No: ChatGpt, GroK, MetaAi, Microsoft.. well the big ones, don’t steal your work, did they at some time use your work? Well, the chances are high they did, to learn your drawing style? No. The previous example uses thousands or if done by a big group a few million samples. The big ones use everything, billions or trillions of images. Do you think they care about you? They don’t. Now the relevant question is, can they do images with your style, if you have a few thousand of your artwork on the web, the answer is yes. Do they allow it? No, currently the big ones let you draw in a specific organization style, like the current Studio Ghibli controversy, but block generation by artist style. So what do they do with your artwork? They mix with millions of other artworks and learn what the sun is, what a table is, and what a hand is, and create their own style. Is this stealing? If a real person uses your artwork as a reference is it stealing, no it’s not, so why is it if a computer does it?
The hypocrisy is strong with this one: A part of the artists who complain are the ones who don’t do original content, the ones who do unauthorized fanart. So let me get this straight this artist complains an AI is stealing art they did of copyrighted content they were not authorized to do?

It’s going to end the artist’s jobs

Please refer to the Painting vs Photography above.

It will take jobs.

Similar to the above but not the same.

Smartphones, Printers, the Internet, Washing Machines, I could be here all day, every time humanity creates a new technology to help people’s lives jobs are lost, or recycled, technological disruption it’s part of society and always will be. Deal with it.

It has no emotions.

Dude dafuq? Emotions? To who? The creator or the one who sees it? Images are inanimate they have no emotions, they can provoke emotions in the one who sees it? Yes, but what a human artist can do, the prompter can do the same. Sorry, but it’s true. Emotions are subjective.

I spent years to learn and now AI does that in seconds

Well, there is nothing I can say, it’s true. An artist spends years, or decades or his entire life creating his own art and lifestyle. I understand the pain and sympathize with the artist, but it’s part of progress. Let’s take the example of 3d printers, they are every year more faster and cheaper, there will be a time when “everyone” will have one at home, will the factory owners complain? It’s useless, adapt to them and use them in some way. I say the same to artists, if you think AI is unfair, use it to your advantage.

AI art will end individual styles because they all look the same

No, it won’t, there are no AI doing images the same way as others, you can try asking Grok, ChatGPT, and Copilot to create an image and see the difference between them. Every AI has its “own style”.

It’s illegal

It’s a gray zone, what happened was companies with billions to spend did it behind closed doors, and launched it with massive marketing, too much money is involved to be made illegal, as we know the world is ruled by money and not morality.

It’s not art

Sorry, but no one can say what art is and what isn’t. We live in a world where a banana tapped to a wall is art. Enough said.

Now the most common arguments in favor of AI “Art”

All the points in favor were generated by AI, and the same question was asked to Chatgpt, Grok, and Copilot, they all gave the same topics with more or less description, then tweaked.

On the contrary of the against points you won’t find my voice here but later on the closing notes.

Speed & Efficiency

AI can generate art in seconds or minutes, which is super useful for rapid prototyping, brainstorming, or getting ideas off the ground quickly.

Accessibility or “Democratization” of Art

People who don’t have traditional art training or tools can still bring their creative visions to life.

Inspiration & Collaboration

Artists can use AI as a creative partner, for getting variations, or new visual ideas they might not have considered on their own.

Cost-Effective

For indie creators, small businesses, or hobbyists who can’t afford custom commissions, AI art can offer a budget-friendly alternative.

Customization

You can quickly generate art in different styles, moods, or formats to fit a project’s specific needs, useful for storyboards, game assets, character design ideas, etc.

Creative Freedom

AI can help people visualize things that are difficult or impossible to create traditionally, like surreal scenes or futuristic concepts.

Closing notes and my Opinion

AI is a great thing, it will probably be the most disruptive technology of the XXI century, jobs will disappear, new ones will appear, and it will probably lead to a new age, currently we live in the Information Age or the Fourth Industrial Revolution, although we can say AI is inside this age, it doesn’t show the importance, and I think the new age will be something that reflects the power of AI’s.

Ok, let’s go to the part where you will kill me in the comments. Hey artists it’s game over on this war, the moment Adobe started using “Generative Filling” the game was over. The war is over, but there is nothing they can do to remove your expertise and years of training, at least for now AI can’t be as specific and detailed as you. Ai didn’t steal you, your skills are still there, they learned from you and that’s different. My suggestion is to embrace it, remember when I talked about diffusion models and how they “steal” your work? Why not make your own AI on your pc and keep it to yourself? Imagine a first reunion with a client where they tell you what you want, you just put some prompts in your AI and show it to the client. You can provide clients with a draft in seconds and then fine-tune it. As for artists, I have nothing more to add that I haven’t already addressed in the earlier points.

Now to the AI ‘Artists’ 🤣, sorry you are not an artist, and will never be writing prompts, you can call yourself prompt master or whatever, but you are not an artist, the artist is the AI, and depending on the model used the human artist(s) behind the AI. You are the equivalent of the person who asks for a commission from a human artist, so get down off your high horse because you will never reach the level of a human artist, in fact, you can’t even compare yourself with a real artist.

Ok now let’s close this so that I am not called a hypocrite or that I have a bias for AI, I won’t escape my own use of AI. You will notice that all images of Dark Hero, except the cover were made by AI (Chatgpt), remember the democratization of art point? I don’t have money to pay an artist, i live in a country where a single character image is equivalent to 1/8 of minimum wage, and that’s too much. I intend near the end of book one to pay an artist to make at least 3 images of the main characters, but that´s in the future. Of course, if you help me by donating, all the money you give me is to buy art for the book.

I know this is a superficial article, and much more could be said, heck there are entire theses about this subject, but I think this is enough for the common of mortals to understand the main points of what AI Art is. What is your own opinion? Leave it in the comments.