AI generated art is here and frankly there’s not much we…

AI generated art is here and frankly there’s not much we can do about it. We can ask the question “how do we stop it?” but I don’t know if that’s the most helpful question; the most helpful question for me is “What can I do now that it’s here?”

AI generated art (images, poems, words, etc) are interesting diversions to human generated art. They’re milkshakes. Milkshakes are generally just a bunch of stuff we already like smashed together and put in form that’s easy to consume. There are places where artistry is present in making a milkshake but generally they’re pleasing diversions. An amalgamation not really an elevation. All in all they’re fine but they don’t require the skill and artistry of a pie or a cake or a soufflé. Everyone, within a minute or two, can learn how to make a milkshake. A pretty good one at that.

AI art has this same problem. It’s an amalgamation of things the computer has been told that we like. The trick with art though, is that the best art contains pieces of our humanity. The machine doesn’t struggle. The machine has never been punched in the face, it’s never gone without dinner, it’s never wondered how in the world it’s going to pay next months rent. It doesn't thirst and it doesn't hunger. It can define what cruelty is but it can't experience it.

The machine has never known love. It has nothing to add. It takes and it smashes and it reforms and it does this billions of times over until finally someone says “that’s nice.” It only exists to create art for our consumption, it doesn’t create art to work through its own problems.

So how do we respond to AI art? We double down on the thing the machine cannot replicate. We take every terrible and beautiful thing that’s ever happened to us and we pour it into our chosen medium. Let the machine make its milkshakes. A billion pieces of AI generated art doesn’t really cost anything but the art we create costs us *everything.*

The machine pours out its bits but we pour out our blood. The only response I have is to keep pouring. 🙏🏻