Famous philosopher Socrates was against writing, thinking it would cause forgetfulness and laziness of the human mind.
When the camera was first invented, people thought that it would be the end of the painter, and it resulted in new art movements being shaped. Today, we are also facing a cornerstone in the history of art, since Artificial Intelligence found its way in it as the artist. Just like all the other technological developments in the past, AI generated art raised questions and created a stir in the artist community.
The first question that comes to mind is if AI generated art is truly art or not. If the art pieces are generated by machines, and not humans, then it doesn't match the definition of art, which states: "the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination..." But in order to argue if it is ethical or not, we must consider it as a form of art.
But how does AI create art ? Let's take the AI art website, MidJourney for example. First, you
write a description of the art piece you are willing to create. The website uses Machine Learning (ML) algorithms, supported with a wide range of image data. The website creates a fusion of the art pieces and creates a unique visual output. Such websites make art more accessible, cheap and gives any beginner an opportunity to create visually pleasing works. But the artist community thinks this form of art is unethical, and basically a form of plagiarism. The AI art generators use millions of art pieces to create a final product, but doesn’t give credit to the artist of any of them.
The discussion grew so big that it was even brought to lawsuit. An AI art generating software is sued by Getty Images, a stock image database. Getty Images suggests that Stability AI, the AI art generating website, has went against intellectual property rights such as copyright and licensing of images created by Getty Images. The lawsuit is not concluded yet.
Another example about the discussion on AI generated art, is The Colorado State Fair digital art competition incident. In the competition, video game designer Jason Allen won first place and received a prize of $300, with the art piece he created via MidJourney. Other artists didn’t agree on an art piece created by AI to win the first place, suggesting that it is unfair and unethical. But, the creator said: “I’m not going to apologize for it, I won, and I didn’t break any rules.” The judges thought the story that the art piece is telling is more important than the creator. “Even as the controversy is coming out, it’s still invoking that, it’s still causing an uproar,” says one of the judges, Cal Duran. “That in itself is kind of remarkable.”
Edited by: Gülce Doğan
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