Is AI a New Way to Make Art?

Trying AI as an artist does not seem intimidating to me, but rather subtly irritating as I see people abusing it right and left. I must say - for me, art is a combination of conceptual framework and craftsmanship. Art is a process of hard work, internal contemplation, thought process, and, of course, the actual making of the art. But it is just me, I guess. 

With the involvement of AI technology, I see a lot of people who would not pick up a pencil to actually sit and draw, flooding socials with their “creations,” claiming them to be fine art. I have to admit that AI kind of cuts the gap between having an idea and visualizing it, and for those who are unable to sketch their ideas out, it might be a good tool for that exact reason - sharing of the ideas. But I would hold horses before trying to claim the process: idea, prompt, digital image as a fine art, comparing it in value to masters and contemporary artists who actually roll up their sleeves and work. I am not trying to hurt anyone’s feelings, but this is just my opinion. Craftsmanship is crucial in artmaking; this is what makes it fine. 

I would not be me if I didn’t want to play with ot a little bit. After seeing all these magnificent images online, I decided to give it a spin.  First, I had an idea for a sketch/drawing that came to me as I was contemplating life and feeling absolutely overwhelmed by things jumping from every corner. Emails, notifications, other stuff. So I thought, why not use AI for reference pictures? In my head, I pictured a woman lying on the grass/floor and her head covered with a bunch of unopened letters like a whole mountain. 

So here is my prompt #1 to Freepik.com AI generator:

A beautiful caucasian woman lying flat on the bright green grass with her arms open. The woman is wearing a white chiffon dress and a pearl necklace. On top of the woman's head, there is a pile of closed envelopes with red wax seals. Side profile with full body seen

For some reason, I was not able to get a full image of the woman. Most of the modifications with he prompt would give me the same results. So I decided to get a woman-only, no envelopes. And I got some funky results with twisted arms. (Example below) I did end up with an image that wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. The only problem - no full body, no matter how hard I tried to modify my search. I was only getting a close-up side profile, waist up.

The combination with envelopes would make it even harder, so after a while, I abandoned the idea and just got two separate images: one of the lying lady and one of the pile of envelopes. Had to use my best old friend, Photoshop, to combine the two into my final reference. A bit raw and not perfect, but I only wanted to use it for the reference sake, not as a final piece.

My final reference shot made using AI and Photoshop.

Concluding with a few final thoughts. I would not use AI for my practice to come up with ideas or to generate/shift my thinking and concept. I might use AI to help with composition, as sometimes it saves me time if I need to find something I cannot take a picture of for reference. For example, I could potentially get a picture of me lying on the grass, but a perfect pile of envelopes was easy to ask AI to get for me.

I am seeing AI as a tool for some small adjustments and elements - not a full concept or image. Even though the idea was my original one, I would never use AI to have a fully rendered image for my reference. Worst to take that image and present it as digital art as it is. So in conclusion, AI as a tool for references/elements - yes, as a full image use - no. I don’t think it is ethical for an artist to use AI-generated “artwork” and name it fully their own, as when things are prompted to AI, the system takes it from already existing art and imagery and adjusts things to its own idea. The look of the person, skin tone, age, cultural background, and emotion are all very standardized and conceptually boxed in categories that were created by potentially unreliable sources.

Also, the background for the image is generated randomly and might not really match the idea. Taking AI is a lazy way to solve problems in the artmaking process, instead of digging deeper and really evolving art practice. Is this something many people want to do - yes. Because it is fast. But like any fast food is not good for you, this fast “art” lacks thoughtfulness, idea, originality, and most importantly, personality and soul.