The recent boom in generative AI especially of images and videos has sparked controversy, and mainly in the artist community. Artists feel disowned and stolen from, because AI models have been trained on datasets taken from artists’ work without their consent.

There are mainly two types of reactions to this issue:

• That is scandalous, no artist should be stolen from
• AI just replicates the principle of human art: inspiration

The second take can feel quite fragile, particularly when you can ask a model to generate an image copying an artist’s exact style.

But I think this is a false problem, artists are just not what we think they are.

To illustrate my point, I will take the example of software code, with which I am more familiar. Code (apart from certain communities) has never been seen as art, just as pure engineering. Most of the time, a software engineer finds himself coding the same structure again and again, but suited for a slightly different solution each time. It is not very enjoyable, the engineer in ‘software engineer’ isn’t supposed to repeat the same processes tirelessly. They are supposed to create/discover new ways of fixing a particular problem not solved before. That is the human part in engineering.

For Art, it’s the same.

Misconception of What an Artist is

It is commonly understood that an artist is someone who masters a craft (paint, drawing, 3D, sculpture,…) to create art. And they often find themselves learning art through learning the techniques. And after gaining enough experience they call themselves artists. Because they have mastered a craft.

But this is wrong.

Just because someone knows how to use a brush and paint in a certain way to create a classic portrait again and again sdoes not mean they should be called an artist. Just as a coder writing the same code over and over shouldn’t be called an engineer. They are a technician. During shows, lights plays a very important role, but no one calls the people handling the lights artists.

So Who Is a Artist then?

Everyone willing to do so. Artists are people who have the creativity to innovate and create something enjoyable in a non-utilitarian way. Before AI, many wannabe artists were stuck by the technical mountain, but now it is not the case anymore. Someone prompting an original and creative work from an generative AI is surely more an artist than someone painting the same still-life over and over again. AI has just lowered the barrier of entry for the real human endeavor: Art.