Will AI Art Replace Actual Artists?

Art by Maria Belen Marriott

Nearly everyone has a picture of  AI (Artificial Intelligence) art-generated pictures of themselves uploaded on social media, while there are been many applications for this in the past, now more than ever, people are more interested in seeing what artistic versions of themselves look like and are sharing it with the world on social media.

In recent times, not many things are as strongly influential as social media trends, and with sharing AI-generated pictures on social media being the trend, everyone is jumping on it. This, however, leaves a question begging for an answer: what does the trend mean for artists?

Since one can now produce a drawing of themselves in minutes using AI applications and maybe parting with a small sum of money, does that threaten the place of actual artist-drawn art and pictures?

Trends don’t last long

Isn’t that why they are called trends? Trends are only for a moment, then they go away. Artist-created art however has been here for a very long time and will continue to be when the trend of AI-generated art has left.

Artificial Intelligence generated art is still very unpopular amongst art enthusiasts.

People who know and are keenly interested in art will hardly spend a fortune on art that was created using Artificial Intelligence. AI-generated art is still very unpopular in the art community. It is considered grossly inferior even. A quality that art enthusiasts appreciate in art created by human artists is the intentionality, effort, and creativity behind the artists’ work. These are qualities that are largely missing in Artificial Intelligence-generated artworks.

AI-generated artworks are mostly imitations of the art of actual artists.

The art generated by Artificial Intelligence is often an imitation of the previously created work of human artists. The pictures recreated by Artificial Intelligence applications are often replicas of already existing popular artworks. Oftentimes, users only had to upload their photos, and the application manipulatethese photos into resembling the existing artworks. In the near future, artists will have to take legal steps to protect their works from being replicated on these applications, especially when it is done in exchange for money. What then becomes of the software when artists do not permit the usage of their art?

The world truly has gone digital, but just like many people would rather read books on paper than on the screens of their tablets and phones, many art enthusiasts will always prefer the artwork of actual artists to AI-generated art. Visual art is one of the sectors that cannot be replaced by Artificial Intelligence for the foreseeable future because of its need for human input, creative uniqueness, and emotions.