AI’s Place in Modern Art
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes more apparent in our everyday lives, it also becomes the focal point of some of the media that is being produced. Through its use in movies, music, digital art, and more, AI is starting to be a significant part of the art that is consumed by everyday people.
Many see this as a negative change. YouTuber Thomas Flight discussed the difference between “art” and “artifice” in a recent video titled “Why AI ‘Art’ Feels So Wrong.” Flight analyzes how Edward Hopper’s paintings evoke emotions, thoughts, and creativity in a way that AI fails to do. He argues that this AI work can replicate or mirror the work of other artists, but it fails to create new meaning in the work it generates.
He argues that art is meant to create astonishment and drive our creativity, to allow us to wonder more than we do. He also argues that AI (the artifice in this situation) lacks the astonishment factor and only fulfills what we believe needs to be fulfilled instead of pushing us to look further.
While Flight is an opponent of AI in art, many film and studio executives like David Zazlav and Darren Arronofsky have made statements that are in opposition to Flight’s view, claiming that AI is a necessary step in the direction that Hollywood is heading in. There are people in most artistic worlds right now that are pro-AI being used to create art and, in part, be the art itself, but this is a smaller pocket than those more opposed to it.
The topic still remains a controversial issue and will likely only get more complicated as AI advances.
