Will A.I. Generated Art Be the Death of Artistic Creativity?

There’s a new technology that has been creating a buzz over the past year or so that involves the creation of art using artificial intelligence. And people have been weighing in, from both sides of the isle, on its potential benefits, as well as the negative impact it could have on artists in the future.
But because the technology is still so new, all anyone can really do at this point is give their opinion as to where they see the future of art heading, if AI should become a dominant factor in the game.
So in this video, I’m going to go over some of the negative effects that AI is already beginning to have on the artistic community. If you’re an artist, or someone who’s interested in preserving the future of artistic creativity and vision, then this is a video that you definitely want to watch.
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[@rachelccarter]

You bring up some good points. I'll be honest, as a non-artist, AI generated art appeals to me. It would make finding images and patterns for coloring books in the same art style, quantity, and quality so much easier. I guess that's part of the problem. I agree with you on giving the artists search volume data to create what people are actually looking for. I think that, in the end, we are creatures that gravitate toward the easiest option, not necessarily the best for us personally or as a whole. Thanks, Craig. You've really given me something to think about before jumping on the AI bandwagon.

[@CraigBabin]

AI definitely does make life easier Rachel, but at what expense. Struggle is a vital part of the human existence. It not only makes "us" stronger, it inspires and motivates "others" to do better as well. Which is going to inspire you more, a piece of artwork that took a human artist 150 hours to complete? Or a piece of artwork that some guy created in 5 minutes by uploading an image that he found on Google (that was created by a human artist), into a prompt generator, and then copied and pasted that prompt into an AI image generator? Oh yeah, he also had to press a button, let's not forget that! We have to give credit where credit is do, because pushing a button will be considered a real achievement in the near future. lol

[@rachelccarter]

​@@CraigBabin I apologize. I guess I didn't make myself clear. You're preaching to the choir, man! I agree with you. Just because AI appeals to me doesn't mean I don't think it's dangerous and needs to be taken very seriously. Hell, there are plenty of things that appeal to me that I wouldn't get anywhere near! And of course, I want to support human artists (as I do now through Creative Fabrica, Canva, and KZbin), not bots. Keep up the great vids, I watch them all. :)

[@CraigBabin]

@@rachelccarter No reason to apologize Rachel, I see the benefits of AI as well. This video was just created as a reminder to those companies who stand to profit from it, to not forget where they came from and who they came with. And thanks for watching the videos, and for commenting, it really helps my channel to continue growing.

[@sue3819]

Hi Craig, I love your channel and thanks for making this video. I have a subscription with CF and CF Spark. A couple of weeks ago I decided that I would make a bunch of notebooks on KDP and give them to people as thank you gifts. I couldn't find the images I was looking for so gave their AI program a try. It was probably me, not knowing how to operate it very well because it took me hundreds of trys to get anything remotely to look like what I wanted. Horses would come out with 6 legs, dolphins swimming above the sand, and the list goes on. However, I did manage to get some images that were usable that I really liked. So, I made 3 books and uploaded them. One of them caused amazon to suspend my account because they said they couldn't verify that I had publishing rights and I needed to send them proof. I sent them a detailed summary with links to CF and the font licensing I have, and attachments to the pages on the site where the proof was. They still were unable to verify that I had proper licensing for the image, fonts and Metadata. So I agreed to follow their rules, never do it again, and unpublish books that infringe on copyrights and trademarks. That was a difficult experience because I did follow the rules yet they still wouldn't let me publish that book. I've been in a bit of a turmoil over it and today was trying to decide if I wanted to continue with kdp. Also, I was trying to decide to continue to use CF Spark. After watching your video, I've decided that I'm not going to generate art using AI. I'm pretty sure the image I got from it must have been a replica from someone's own artwork. They blocked the publication of the book in question and I unpublished the other 2 books I made using AI as well. Like everything in life, there is a good and a dark side, this obviously includes AI too. It's amazing how our actions can hurt others even if that's not our intention, and how things that can make our own life easier, could cause hardship to others. I've experienced the hardship side of that these past couple of years, and certainly don't want to do that to anyone else. I do think that AI art will take off, but in the end, maybe many many years from now, i can envision how rare and wonderful human made artwork would be, even generations from now, people could be in awe over it. Don't stop making it. I've seen your videos where you design things, you're quite amazing. I wish I had that talent.

[@CraigBabin]

Thank you for the kind words Sue and I'm sorry your Amazon account was suspended. Because AI Art Generators sample from preexisting copy written art, made by actual artists, without knowing which exact pieces the generator is sampling from, there's no way to know for sure just how much of the artwork it's using in it's finished piece. And this will be an obstacle for those using AI for many years to come. AI will never replace human artists, because with human art it's not about the finished piece, it's about the journey. People want to watch artists create and learn how to do what they do. In fact, that's one of the main income sources for artists these days. But that can't be said for those who create with AI. Watching someone create art with an AI Generator is about as interesting as watching someone do a Google image search. People want to be inspired and motivated to create, and want to be a part of that process; AI will never be able to give that to them. Typing in your food order on a kiosk at some restaurant and then having your food prepared by someone else, is not as fun or fulfilling as cooking it yourself. Just as recreating a photo-realistic image with an AI Generator, is no where near as magical as is finding that perfect spot in nature, at just the right time of day, and then taking a photograph that takes your breath away. I do worry about AI technology taking over the world someday, but in the near future, I think artists will be just fine.

[@sue3819]

I agree. Last fall as the sun was setting, I drove past a huge wheat field and wish so much that I had stopped to take a photo. It's one of my most memorable moments. There were a bunch of combines scattered over the field harvesting it. The setting sun was at the perfect spot in the sky to reflect off the dust that surrounded each machine, along with a beautiful colored sky in the background. It was breathtaking.

[@miki_wiki12]

Hi Sue, hope you don’t mind me asking but did you send a copy of your subscription invoice to KDP? I’ve had a similar situation (not using AI, but their clipart). I sent them CF’s licensing terms and a copy of their invoice with my name on it and they accepted it as sufficient proof.

[@ClayWar237]

Wonderful video. You really gave a voice to my concerns. I do think that there will always be sapient beings that value non automated artwork, even in the far future. Same-y "vending machine" generated pieces will probably flood the market in the coming years, and Art may become more of a hobby than a (relatively) common profession, but I can't imagine a future where people won't appreciate human craftsmanship and dedication to artistic projects. If anything, the good stuff will be pushed to various niche communities and may sell for a fortune, enabling creative individuals to live off their Passions again. But yeah, we will see! The future is gonna be weird. Love your channel, you've gained a subscriber :D

[@CraigBabin]

I'm glad you're coming along for the ride Clay.

[@ELECTROMIST]

Your points are so good. I really don't like AI art. You know since July I just created one artwork because I was highly demotivated as an artist.

[@CraigBabin]

Don't let AI stop you from creating art. Great artists will always be in demand in some form or another. If you stop creating, then technology wins. People will always enjoy watching an artist create art on KZbin for inspiration. I doubt that watching a 3 second video of a person pushing the button on an AI image generator, is a fad that is going to take off any time soon.

[@ELECTROMIST]

@@CraigBabin thankyou, I am really emotional rn by this example. I won't leave sketching. Thankyou ❤

[@jcarlin596]

Hi Craig. I am not an artist and have tried to use AI to generate images for coloring books, as espoused by many youtubers. I have found this to be totally unsatisfactory. There is definitely an 'AI Look' and I am seeing it more and more on Creative Fabrica. Also I think it is only a matter of time before KDP requires an AI deceleration when publishing - similar to the 'Adult Content' one they currently require. AI is just feeding in to the 'get quick rich' mentality. Just my thoughts.

[@CraigBabin]

I think you are absolutely right Jim.

[@Svartr.HrafnSvartr]

I think there will always be people who will highly value human creativity, skill, and craftmanship, so I'm not really convinced that AI will ultimately destroy anything. There will be a frustrating phase for artists while AI is all the rage but I hope that as more people realize how increasingly soulless these images inevitably become, that a renaissance of true art happens again.

[@CraigBabin]

I hope you're right!

[@sherpya]

AI is a tool, not a replacement, the software is not generating images by itself without any human input, adobe creative suite includes a lot of stuff that is AI: background remover, content aware fill

[@CraigBabin]

I would have to disagree with you my friend. You can type any words you want into Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator and then push any button you want and "NO" artwork will be created. These are tools that require the artistic ability and creativity of a human. As for AI, you can drag an image into an AI prompt generator (which requires no artistic talent), copy the prompt that was generated and paste it into an AI image generator like Midjourney (which also requires no artistic talent), type in a few descriptive words and then push a button and the AI will create the art "for you". My problem is with people who refer to themselves as AI Artists. You're not an artist, you're a customer. You're ordering artwork from an AI vending machine. The process for commissioning artwork from a human artist, and the process of generating artwork using AI, is exactly the same. Describe what you want and then push a button. The only difference is that with AI, the button is a "generate" button and with the human artist, the button being pushed is a "send" button on an email. If people who use AI to generate art want to call themselves something, try "Art Director". Because make no mistake about it, in the AI generated art relationship, the computer is the one with the artistic talent! But that's just my opinion.

[@sherpya]

@@CraigBabin adobe photoshop generative fill is essentially the same algorithm (based on stable diffusion), and you are right I'm not the artist that generates the "art" (because the generated images have no copyright, even if the decision part of the generation is human) but I still create for example videos by adding music effects, multiple images and text, this qualifies as unique human work, the current use for ai is "give me an image" as cheap alternative to buying cliparts or fillers, I believe real graphic artists are not really satisfied being bulk creators of cliparts and filling images.

[@CraigBabin]

@@sherpya I'm not saying that AI doesn't have its merits and that it can't be used by creative people to aid in the creative process like it does in Photoshop, I'm just saying that that's not what software like MidJourney was created to do. It was designed to mimic copyrighted art as a means to replace those artists. Using AI as an assistive tool doesn't remove all of the struggle and creativity from the process of creating art, it just makes it a little easier. AI image generators were designed to remove all of the struggle as well as the creativity that is normally required to create art. So people who use AI to bucket fill their drawing in Adobe Illustrator are still artists. They still have to deal with composition, perspective, lighting, shadows, color palettes, tangents, flow, etc. But people using MidJourney don't have to deal with any of that. They just have to place their order and purchase their art work from the AI vending machine.

[@spuddie99]

I 100% agree with you. I am an older artist and I find AI art boring, generic and missing the human component. It just feels fake. I tried midjourney and the only skill I needed was to improve the wording of my request. The results were not art and certainly not my art. The world may always "value" human creativity but the marketplace is about the bottom line. They will choose the formulaic over human creativity every time. Someone needs to reign AI in, It's not just about destroying human creativity, taken to it's logical conclusions it's about destroying humans.

[@CraigBabin]

The more I learn about AI, the more I realize that there will always be elements, of a human artists journey, that AI just won't be able to recreate (ie teaching drawing tutorials, developing a fan base, giving a client exactly what they want in working files that are "layered", etc). I think in the very near future big companies like Amazon and Disney will dominate the AI world leaving nothing but scraps for AI artists; and human artists will just go back to being the way we were before AI, operating on a completely separate playing field.