As of Oct. 2024, artificial intelligence is at an all-time high. Usage of one specific type of AI, known as Generative AI, has been gaining popularity.
Generative AI can be used to create images, videos and other types of media. It uses data from all over the internet to create results, such as writing stories or creating “art.”
Some people argue that AI isn’t authentic art due to the lack of a real person creating it, but others think that it is an authentic art form. However, Del Val’s art and photography teacher, Sarah Ruppert, believes that AI is art.
“I believe in the pursuit of creativity in regards to the brain behind it, [and] the person behind it saying ‘I’m going to manipulate the AI to do what I want it to do,’” Ruppert said. “You are creating, as the mind behind the concept. It doesn’t matter what tool you’re using to make the art. You’re still in charge of the concept and the creation. AI just becomes another tool, like a camera or a paintbrush.”
It’s understandable where Ruppert is coming from. However, I do not think that AI-generated art is authentic art. Del Val student Ava Perone shares this opinion.
“It isn’t really authentic or creative because there’s no real human brain making up an image and putting it on paper or an easel, and you’re just typing in a prompt,” Perone said. “There is no real thought on what the output would be, as it isn’t really you, which, in my opinion, isn’t very creative.”
AI art is popular, as the age of AI continues to surge. People who think it’s good and people who think it is bad will continue to pop up, and different opinions will spread.
In the end, of course, the opinion of whether or not the use of generative AI to create art is authentic is up to the user. Some people, such as Ruppert, may see it as a new tool to use, a new way for people to be creative. Others, like Perone, may see it as a cheat. It’s not authentic and not real art.
Even though it’s popular now, AI will not always be that way. Just as with all new technology, such as the camera, it will be integrated into society. However, what we do until then, how we deal with AI in the art community and AI as a whole, is up to us as people.
“Eventually people will get bored of it,” Perone said. “I mean, it doesn’t have the same happy feeling as creating art on your own. Like drawing and picking up colors and thinking about them. All you’re doing is typing into a piece of technology, what you want it to make.”
