The debate about whether AI imaging is art is a mistake. The mistake is easy to understand. The misunderstanding arrises from compelling and captivating situation of anyone without any training or knowledge typing couple of words on a website and producing an image they call art that visually rivals someone who has studied art history for years, who has practiced their technique for a decades, and whose skills elevate them to a rare group of a few hundred people in the world.
But just because someone calls an image art does it make it art? I’d say yes. Why not? Is that offensive? Does a 5 year old call their crayon drawing art? Of course it is art. Is that a threat to artists ? Of course not. Now is AI a threat to artists? Well , imagine photography coming out and giving cameras to children, non-artists and artists. All will be able to take some good photos initially but give it a little time and those who are truly artistic will soon become clear.
In the early days of photography, long before the term “photoshop” was coined, artists used a process called retouching to enhance their images. This was done by hand, using a variety of tools and techniques. Today, retouching is done digitally, and the tools have become much more sophisticated. But the goal is the same: to create an image that is more aesthetically pleasing, or that conveys a certain message more effectively.
With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), we are now seeing a new form of retouching, one that is done by computers. This is often referred to as “deep learning” or “neural networks.” And it is changing the way we think about images, and the role of the artist in creating them.Deep learning is a form of machine learning that is inspired by the structure and function of the brain. Neural networks are computer algorithms that are designed to mimic the way the brain learns. They are able to learn from data, and they get better at learning over time. Deep learning is being used to create images that are more realistic than anything that has been created before. And as the technology continues to develop, we are likely to see even more amazing images, ones that are virtually indistinguishable from reality.This is both exciting and scary. Exciting, because it opens up new possibilities for artists. Scary, because it raises questions about the future of art, and the role of the artist in creating it. Some people believe that AI will eventually replace artists altogether. That we will simply feed data into a computer, and it will create images that are more realistic and more beautiful than anything we could create ourselves. Others believe that AI will merely augment the role of the artist. That it will provide us with new tools and new ways of seeing the world. But that the artist will still play a vital role in deciding what to create, and how to create it.I tend to believe the latter. I believe that AI will augment the role of the artist, but that it will never replace us entirely. After all, art is about more than just creating realistic images. It’s about conveying emotion, and telling a story. And that is something that computers, no matter how sophisticated, will never be able to do.
(Courtesy: Jason M Allen )