Art Sustains Me

Artificial intelligence, AI, is a type of technology that allows computers and machines to simulate human intelligence. AI has been in the works for a couple of years now, but I believe it is at its current peak of popular discourse and controversy, as I have seen numerous discussions of its existence across many forms of media. I enjoy many art mediums, from traditional pencils to paper, digital media, movies, and music, but for the purpose of this discussion, I will focus on digital art. My initial feelings on art generated through the use of AI are those of distrust and disrespect, and I also feel that the creator is stealing from others' works to generate their own creation. 

What prompted me to choose this topic is the case of the “artist” Petra (@petravoice on Twitter/X). I was introduced to her art by Twitter’s algorithm. I really liked her work. I enjoyed the use of colors and the blurred appearance that gave her work an ethereal look. For a while, I thought it was made through common methods of creating digital art like it being drawn out on applications such as procreate. It was not until a video on TikTok discussed how Petra’s work was made through the use of AI. At first, I felt disbelief because I thought I could clock the use of AI in art, but then I realized that AI is improving more and more. 

My feed soon was filled with people drawing out and recreating Petra’s work to demonstrate how simple it was to replicate without the use of AI, and in some cases, the recreated art looked better than Petra’s. I also learned that Petra attended art school, which stumped me. Why wouldn't you want to put what you have learned into practice? Now, knowing this has completely flipped how I feel about her work. I feel that AI is here to replace not only jobs but, ultimately, people. AI usage is such a blatant dig at artists because it takes away an artist's opportunity to demonstrate their work and earn a commission or living. This leaves me thinking about how using AI makes me feel like it cheapens real skills. Hopefully, as time progresses, something will be put in place to protect artists as AI becomes more prevalent.