Artificial Intelligence is making people rethink the Visual Arts now that robots can produce imagery by simply providing a computer application with a prompt. It is, wonderfully, not working, as Art (with a Capital A) is, by definition, an expression of humanity. Art cannot be made by AI.
A quick retort would state that any tool used in the art making process is there to assist humanity. Therefore, AI is, technically speaking, no different than a paintbrush or a charcoal twig.
However, when too much creative control is given to a tool, the humanity in a piece goes away. The line which is crossed between the use of the tool versus the spirit of the artist is up for debate, but with this said, it is obvious that there is a difference between a Leonardo Di Vinci and basic AI illustration. Let us use Leonardo Di Vinci's "The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne & Saint John the Baptist" from 1499 as an example.
This drawing is an indispensable work from the Italian Renaissance for a unique reason; the work is unfinished. It, therefore, allows us to get a sneak peak into what Di Vinci's drawing process was. If you observe the bottom left corner, you can see that the Virgin Mary's left foot is simplified into a crude shape. It resembles a Ninja Turtle foot (coincidence?). According to this drawing, Di Vinci would first simplify the figures into basic shapes and gradually add detail.
It is evident that Di Vinci erased a lot. On close viewing, you can see where the artist changed his mind, reflected, and changed course.
When looking closely, you can see the eraser markers of a grid, meaning that this image would be later blown up and blown down using multiplication. a 3 inch grid can be brought down to a 1 inch grid, or a 6 inch grid. This shows craft and exploration, someone along the way (perhaps Di Vinci himself) applied simple mathematics to the Visual Arts.
Di Vinci's creative process made evident that he had to utilize observation, reflection, craft, exploration, expression and imagination. With these skills, he made his art and built community, eventually building into world history and our collective community.
Although one could argue that AI art, through a complex series of 0-1 codes which have become infinitely more complex since computing's birth, is an art in and of itself, AI applications and their users are not the act of coding, rather, a gift to the recipients of coders. This is a long winded way of saying AI is an art in and of itself. Sure. The problem with AI art is that the art made shows no evidence of humanity. Unless you type the prompt in, there's no eraser marks. There's no deconstructed build up. There are few mistakes. There's no evidence of reflection, observation, expression, exploration, imagination, craft and it has 0 value for the community. Most AI art is immediately erased.
Upon doing a quick AI generation for "Leonardo Di Vinci's 'The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne & Saint John the Baptist' from 1499", it is beyond evident that all the images are horrid copycats, but let's go deeper into that accusation. Nothing is made with an actual hand. The "mistakes" aren't really mistakes, they can't attribute to the randomness of the human experience; a drip of coffee that accidentally hits the page, the artist's specific gentle touch, a moment of broken focus and thus, the shape of a line not contoured correctly, then corrected. through observation. Perhaps the AI generation could make some akin to a Di Vinci, but doing so would involve writing at least a blog entries worth of description as to how Di Vinci made his work, which would, economically, completely defeat the point of AI which is to cut labor and therefore labor costs. You'd just have an office of people writing descriptions of Di Vinci as opposed to people drawing the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne & Saint John the Baptist. Time and labor costs would probably equal out.
The mistake in AI is its assumption that human individuality is replaceable with technology. In our modern times, the term "snowflake" has been used in a derogatory way to describe someone who is fragile and sensitive. Snowflakes are often used as a metaphor to showcase someone's individuality.
The American mathematician G.D. Birkhoff in 1928 developed a theory of aesthetic measure called "order in complexity." An example of this would be the snowflake: every snowflake is different, yet all are united by their basic hexagonal pattern. Each snowflake is restricted to one pattern, repeated and reflected twelve times. Such uniformity is characteristic of all inorganic, crystalline pattern.
Metaphorically, we humans are the same. We are all individuals, but there are structural elements that unite us all. Our brains are in our skulls. Our hearts pump blood. Humans are restricted to a pattern, even at the edges of individuality, by structural elements which, ironically, are what make us human.
AI cannot replicate this because it is not human. The individuality of the human cannot be reproduced with code as it is determined by the mystery of life itself, not by code. AI can illustrate it, which is to say it can visually communicate a replica of it, but Visual Art is and always will be an expression of our humanity.
This is the reason people still pay money to see live music. It's the reason people watch humans play basketball and not robots. It's the reason people sing in choruses and jam in jazz trios, because the specific conditions of their specific locations and identities makes culture that is more diverse in content due to its emphasis on humanity.
When art educators access student work, many use what is known as the "Studio Habits of Mind" developed by Lois Hetland. It is a system of assessment in which the students and teachers have a conversation about how and when they used reflection, expression, exploration, observation, reflection, imagination, developed craft and interaction with arts communities during the studio arts process. These skills are applicable to all life situations and career paths, making the studio art class vital to all students, not just those who will chose to follow a career in the arts and design. A Di Vinci is chalk full of examples from Hetland's Studio Habits. The AI has evidence of none of it because no humans actually worked on the creation of the imagery. By the definition I am using, it is not art.
While many find this argument to be self evident, many students, administrators and political figures are suggesting the Visual Arts can be dismissed due to technological advancements. The point of a studio art class is learned in the process of making Art, not its final product which is the souvenir of that experience. As John Dewey teaches us, the best education is experiential.
So in closing, focus on the model/figure in front of you. Observe them as they are. Explore the many ways you can hold a pencil. Reflect and erase. Express your specific way of drawing the world and break from reality a little bit. Apply the developed craft of a grid to the piece and magnify it. Imagine what to do with the piece. Share it with the community. Art isn't just an image, it is a culture and an experience. This is why AI isn't art and never will be.
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