AI-generated images are the Chinese takeout of art
We were all staring mortified, eyes glued to the computer screen.
"What is that?" My colleague left of me asked.
"Better yet, why is that?" The one standing behind me piped up.
"It's the future, alright." The youngest said somberly. "Our dance studio decided to replace our yearly promo picture with... well, what you see before you. An AI-generated banner."
The empty eyes that rested in the perfectly sculpted, smooth-skinned faces stared back at us.
"It has lost its energy, its soul. It's just... not lively or vibrant." The colleague that spoke first sighed and then shrugged.
"You can't avoid it anymore, but, what a shame." We all hummed in agreement.
…ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ
Every time I see the title "AI artist" or "Professional AI prompter" in someone's bio, I have to stop my eye from twitching in irritation. I try to approach the whole subject as neutrally as possible, since I myself had some doubts about digital art years ago and look where we are now. I try to approach things with a curious and open mind. But, my sweet and sweaty Lord in heaven, AI art is actively trying to undermine my noble stance.
I'll be honest, I also think AI art is cool. There is nothing as satisfying as typing a prompt for a character you had in mind and seeing the illustrations being created before your eyes. I too am guilty; I used AI to generate character images for my DnD campaign. If AI had not existed, I probably would have used a search engine to find the image of a figure that corresponded as close as possible to what I had in mind, and I would have called it a day.
I am not yet a possible client; I would not have given money to an artist to create that image for me. But AI is snooping away clients from actual artists, and this is not to our benefit.
Today, AI-generated images are everywhere. They are in the shittiest blog articles, on advertisements in the store, in inspirational but ultimately completely lunatic LinkedIn posts by your ex-colleague, and even on your local dance studio's website. And that's just the tragedy, isn't it? As my colleague so beautifully worded it, it all feels like the soul has been sucked out of it.
Where are the imperfections, the choices that make that image unique? Where is the thought behind it that breathes life into it? I never understood better the value of real, hand-made art now that we are flooded with the cheap knock-off version. Every time I stare into the perfectly balanced features of an AI-generated human, a part of my brain slowly dies.
Screw you with your 'professional AI prompting.' You are just like a real estate agent. You have to have no skills at all, you just have to be able to sell it. The art is not in the prompt. The art is always in the choices that are made to create that image, choices you cannot make since the AI is doing that for you. Choices that people learn to perfect by doing it well and often. Choices that make the art and style theirs. Again, choices you are not making result in art that is empty and devoid of what makes it art in the first place. To say that every person with an internet connection can now be an artist is like saying that any person with a hedge trimmer is a professional landscaper.
AI art can be inspirational; it can be combined and incorporated. Heck, I'm all for it. But don't try to tell me that on its own it's art, because I'm not feeling it. AI-generated images are like Chinese takeout; it's quick, it fulfills for a short time, but oh my is it a weak decoction of the real thing.
Waving while dying on this hill,
Rat