The ethics of AI art

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If you've been active in the art community online lately, you've probably come across plenty of discussion regarding AI generated art. Frankly, with the rapid development of such generators, it's concerning for professional artists. Myself included, so of course I am going to show bias. I can hardly remain impartial on such a topic.

For those of you unfamiliar, AI stands for Artificial Intelligence within this context. Such generators take online imagery and create a new image, typically based on a user given prompt. There are debates regarding who owns such an image, as it was not created directly by an artist, plus it often uses the work of other artists without consent. However, you could argue that this is what a regular artist does, since it is not unheard of for an artist to take inspiration or certain aspects from another piece to create something new.

We're not quite at the stage of being completely replaced by robots just yet though. AI seems to struggle with where to place certain body parts such as ears or hands. I doubt we're far off being replaced unfortunately. This is troubling for the industry. If it continues to develop in such a way, then I suspect people will stop trying and we'll lose our creative skills as a society. We'll rely on the artwork of the past to create new designs using robots.

Perhaps human artists will become a niche and certain companies will employ them to have a unique selling point in the future. It does bring up the question of what we'll do when we become obsolete. Most likely we'll be used to train the generators that are here to replace us. It's already happening after all. DeviantArt created some controversy with its userbase recently and a significant amount of users have left the platform in protest. The site used the artwork hosted on its site to train an AI generator, without the consent of the artists who were using the space to share their artwork. After some pushback, DeviantArt introduced a feature where artists could tick a box to tell the generator not to include their artwork piece. However, if their artwork had already been used by the generator, there was no reversing that.

It's not just DeviantArt. There were online protests on sites such as ArtStation, which is a site used for hosting art portfolios by professional artists promoting their services. Users spammed the message "NO TO AI ART" all over the site, which did have the satisfying effect of temporarily ruining generators that started to ironically incorporate the message into their pieces. The site has now added a hashtag you can add to pieces if you wish them to not be included by a generator. If they are still used and you can prove this, then you have grounds to claim copyright. Likewise, if you can prove that a generator is being used to copy your exact style for commercial purposes, then that is also ground for a copyright claim.

There's a fair amount of debate going on regarding whether AI art should be allowed to enter into contests. Which has already happened, and certain individuals who call themselves AI artists have already won. Much to the outrage of, well - dare I say actual artists.

Even if I become obsolete, I'm still going to make art. It's a relaxing process and I hope we don't collectively forget that.

People will never become obsolete.

Even online classes in university have proven unpopular.

People mostly like contact with other, actual people.

I’m an artist/illustrator using traditional techniques for many years, but going over to digital in the last couple of years. The digital approach (Procreate in my case) confers some advantages, but everything I do is most definitely me.
AI art is the Devil’s armpit. It destroys the entire bedrock of creativity. I’ve noticed that DeviantArt has an entire section for displaying AI “art”… couldn’t believe it myself. I didn’t know you could tick an AI box… I’ve only uploaded a few things so far but will investigate.
I haven’t joined ArtStation, it’s professionally orientated and I’ve only sold stuff when commissioned or pressed… it’s not my bag. But it’s terrible for anyone making a living out of art.
Does any serious artist actually support this stuff?

If the original artwork was produced by the owner(s) of the AI, then there is no breach of ethics.  In such an instance, the AI owners have full ownership privilege over the original piece, the AI tool, and the final product.

Stolen original art?  Yeah, that sucks.

Maybe living artists could up their games and produce art that is more inspired (and inspiring) than a few splashes of paint on a canvas that has been "gesso'ed" with their own urine.

Just been looking on DeviantArt… seems I’ve been automatically opted out, so you have to choose to have your stuff copied… don’t really know why anyone would opt in.
But looking at some of the comments on some of the AI work… wow… very divisive.

A lot of (maybe most?) artists online do commissions of people. Real people, fictional characters, the commissioner's D&D character, and stuff like that. It's still representational art, and while the quality varies significantly, it can be quite high.

While there are abstract artists who make their living in shows and the museum circuit, my impression is that there are far fewer of them. Their market's a lot different too, since for them the name brand is quite important. They'll probably still have their niche because their patrons are wealthier types who'll still seek them out as status symbols.

But the artists who do commissions for regular people and nerds? They might have a much harder time of things.

It's happening with writing as well.

The only real ethics problem that I have with this is a copyright issue if the generator copies the style of a particular artist. Knowing a bit about neural though, I know that if this happens, it's because of the use of that particular artist's work used in the training data to train the AI and it can be avoided by using a larger training data set from a variety of sources.

Admittedly, I don't use DeviantArt myself. I should have double checked that information.

However, I do use ArtStation for my work. I was emailed recently regarding their new terms of service which includes the new #noAI tag that you can use to exclude your work from generators.

Strange times we are living in.

I don't yet know what to make of AI in art. I've always seen remuneration for conventionally-created art as being woefully decoupled from morality. An artist can work like mad for their entire life and die in poverty, or they'll somehow get discovered and end up with tons more money that they could possibly deserve. There's some who end up in the middle of course. But overall there's perhaps a problem - it's often easier for an artist to cynically sell out on their standards and to contrive to be a "people pleaser" rather than treading the noble path of sticking to their values and just hoping that maybe one day they'll be recognised as talented.

I'm not sure AI is doing anything that the more cynical artists haven't already been doing - i.e. stealing just enough from others to be able to fly under the radar. Just that AI is doing it on much more of an industrial scale. But nothing is ever going to be able to stop genuine artists from doing their thing. Just that they'll be even less likely to get paid for it, so they'll have to do it in their own time.

Like I say, I don't quite know what to make of AI in art yet. So what I've written here is just a few initial thoughts on the matter which very likely don't do more than scratch the surface.

---

FoR Me At Least, heART Without Art,
smART Without Art, eARTh Without Art,

And Even pART Without ART Empties Souls;

Leaves Mostly 'HE' And 'S & M' And 'Eh' Just 'P;'

It's A Rather Dry, Drab, MoLDY Life to me Without Creating SPiRiT oF Art

And NOT Filling/Feeling in the Voids of All Those Words and Worlds Above...

Fulfilling Dance As A Blind
Human Song As Deaf
Do Art Singing Without Sound
Dancing Without Sight

Hehe THere is No WaY iN Hell or Heaven
And The Tween Of Purgatory on EartH That
So-Called A.I. Art is Ever Ever Gonna Replace

The Dance And Song of mY SoUL of Arts As It All Flows
Effortless in 'Wu-Wei-Ease' FLoWinG Water Waves Ocean

Whole of
mY Subconscious Mind/

SouL Yet If IT Has Truly
Human iMaGiNaTiVE Creative
Soul Deep Subconscious Real

Potential, Bring A.I. on As i Don't Compete

Yet i Love to See Art More AMuSinG Than

i Am Able to Create After Spending 112 Months
of Writing 11.2 MiLLioN Words of Free Verse Poetry
And Particularly 17,611 Miles of Public Dance Too As Video
Voyeurs From 'Trump Deep South States' Volunteer to Try to Get

(A Few Folks Have Attempted my Style and Within Seconds

Almost Fell on Their Butt)

Famous on
Social Media
By Video Taping
Me HeHe At Least
One Went Very Viral
So Far Interesting to me As
A Fly on the Comment Walls
to See How the Metro Area Assessed
What i Do in Terms of 1300 Comments;

It Was Truly Hilarious, Ranging From Perhaps i'll
Go 'Postal' to Famous to Living Folk Legend to Area Icon and the Such

And It's True i Do a Spiraling Moving Meditation in Flow of Bliss Similar
Somewhat to A 'Sufi Dervish' Yet Solo and Always Changing New in Every

Move Greater FRiEnDS With Gravity As When 111 Kilograms of Body Weight

Becomes Relatively

The Weight of my

Finger Tips
FRiEnDS
With Gravity
From Head to
Toe A Real Bliss iN FLoW
It is in Peak and Plateau

of Ecstasy in Art For Real;

And THere is No Way In Hell
Purgatory or Heaven Anyone External

Or Anything External to me Could Reward
me Any Greater Than What i am Able to Generate
Within By Doing Art As True They Have Surely Tried

And Failed

Hehe;

Never The
Less, Pleasurable
Efforts; Yet my Creativity
my Art is A Gift From Soul;

Yes, i Get the Starving Artist Meme;

Yet i Wouldn't Sell Anything i Do For A Billion
Dollars As i Started The Whole Endeavor

Literally in HeLL ON EartH For 66 Months
RiSinG Out of that Place Financially

Independent

Already in

HeLL ON EartH;

A GreaTesT Lesson

ON What's More Important,

Having A Soul or Having 'Stuff;'

Truly Timeless Art Done Through the

Ages Has Mostly Been Accomplished By

Folks With Laser Focus on What they Do With

Very Few Financial Rewards or Accolades During Their Life;

Oh, How Thrilled They Might Be to Live Today; Moving, Connecting,
Co-Creating With Folks Online All The Way Around the World Like me Yet on the

Other Hand, They Might

Be Stuck at a 'Bus Stop'

Playing 'Candy Crush'

All Distracted And

Never Have Even a Story

of Their Own Life Worth Sharing

With 'the Nurse' At the Bus Stop,

Who is 'Reading A Magazine'

And Not Paying Attention

To A Word They Might

(Reference Forrest
Gump When He
'Just Felt Like
Running' too)

Relate Yet On The

Other Hand,

Otherwise,
They Might
Have Truly
Lived A Fulfilling
And Authentic Life;

No Slave to Any Boss,

Currency of Money, or Other Target Audience in Life,

Who Rules Their Creativity to a Place That is Not Original At All...

i've Already Participated in 'Poetry Science' Where the Folks Copy the
Forms of Others And Count Syllables And The Such Online in International

Clubs for An Entire Year Poetically Responding to them in Free Verse And

What Rarely

Yet Does Happen,

Folks Get Butthurt

Over Your Soul Getting
Inspired By What Their Soul Inspires

in Art And Replying Poetically Free in-Kind of Deepest Soul And of Course Truly Talented

Others Do Their Best to Send Ya to Heaven For Giving Sharing Free Who Ya Are At Deepest Levels...

SMiLes, i Do it For the Experience of the BLeSSinGS of the Holy Sacred and Divine True BLiSSinGS

Creativity
iN Art
Naturally
BRinGS Free

iN Autotelic
Meditating
Flow
For
REAL;

i Can't
Imagine

Ever Getting in Any
Contest or Accepting
Any Money to Sell A Dance,
Song, or Other Art of my SoUL

Yet Innumerable SMiLES And Other
Human Emotions and Senses Over 112 Months FOR REAL

Generating in Others is Surely 'Influence' Enough in Just one Life...

It Depends on Perspective, As i've Seen Many Very Talented Free Verse

Poets Just Give Up The Whole Effort, When They Find No One Wants to Buy the

Book they Self-Publish;

We LiVE iN A World of
Buy and Sell of Buy and

Sell Souls

iNDeeD;

The Way
of the World
Sadly For Most it Seems;

It Surely Was 'the Way of the
World' For the Most Part of
Working For Pay 33 Years For me too...

TG,
NO MORE.

i Am Free
And Never

For Sale Again... PERIOD.

Anyway, Key in the Last Several

Hundred Years is No Matter What Tool

Humans Develop To Change How We Work for

Pay or Play For Bliss; Do Master The Tool And Do Not

Get Mastered

By IT

Or A.I.

Or Whatever
Comes Next;

Information Technology
And Artificial Intelligence

Has Already Gifted me More
Than i Could Possibly Return in this one Lifetime Now;

Even in Terms of A Book Every Week i Read in Barnes And Noble,

Totally Laser Focused in Autotelic Flow of Listening to Meditative
Music While Dancing in Flow Entertaining The Star Bucks College

Study Crowd Like i Do Every Sunday Afternoon, Including Earlier Today;

YeS iN The Last 9 Years, i've Read over 400 Books Free And While i Write

The Size of A Free Verse Poetry Novel/Anthology of Around 60,000 Words

Bi-Monthly, There is No Way i Will Create As Many Books As i Consume For Free

Just With the
Technology

of Books And
A Store That Welcomes

me Every Sunday As True Folks
Do Come There Just to see me Dance Hehe;

Same as the Metro Dance Hall for 6 years; Same

As Walmart As Parents Tell me Their Children Look For

me Dancing Whenever They Come to the Store; Same as

The Grandchildren of the Lady Who Cuts my Hair Who Asked

Her to Please ask me When And Where i Am Gonna Dance Free Again,

Just to come And Watch me Free;

There Are A 'Zillion' Other
Stories or So to Relate;

Some Much More
Amusing Than this;

Yet It's like a Little Drummer
Boy At Christmas Who Doesn't

Carry A Dime In His Pocket, And Sees

The Face of God in All of Existence

And Enjoys Seeing Existence

Smile Back At

Him When

He Plays
His Drum
or Dance
or Song For Them Just For Free...

It Depends on What One Values most

in Life; The Give
Share, Care, Heal

or The 'Trump
Take, Hoard, Callous, Harm;' As 'They' Say,

Symbol of the American DarK Way... NO Thanks.

Trying to Make a Living For Pay By Doing Art is
One of the Hardest Challenges Humans May Do...

Doing ART For Free; Just Pure Bliss and Bless,
IF You Truly Feel And Sense Life THiS WaY,

ActuAlly
Doing It
New Now For Real..

---

The world has changed so much since I was a kid. Since I was in my 20s, even. But I thought art was the one thing that could never be replaced by machines because only humans have the ability to create art. It was one of the few things about being a human that didn't suck, along with creating music. But the music industry is complete garbage now, so I guess art will be too.

I'm not even a real artist, I'm nothing but a pathetic waste of oxygen and resources that will end up forced into being a human test subject or into a gas chamber because I'm not a productive member of society and they'll think no one will care if I die.

Your stance is rather presumptuous.

I won't assume to know what's going on a given artist's head. If someone "sells out", maybe they really need to in order to survive. Maybe they're just tired of doing things one way and want to try something else.

It's worth noting that, for most of human history, artists were basically a professional class. A rich person or a priest hired an artist to create something the rich person or priest wanted. Sure, the artist would still use creativity, but the idea of following one's muse and disregarding convention would have been seen as laughable at best and arrogant at worst by most artists.

When photography came around, it basically undercut the utility of art as a professional class. Now, when people wanted their portraits, they'd just have a photographer take a picture. This is about the time that art's value changed to be more subjective and creative. There wasn't as much utility in painting a beautiful representative picture (though you could and can still make money off this), so instead it became more about the way the artist personally saw the world, in fashions that cameras couldn't duplicate.

I respect people who follow their own muse. But not everyone can afford to do that. Likewise, I don't begrudge someone wanting to be successful and making compromises with their creativity to do that.

A lot of professionals work to a strict brief from the client, but also create their own vision in their spare time. No conflict, no problem.

Well, it was just my personal view and observations, not meant to offend anybody, and I was surprised to read that you thought it presumptuous. I suppose I could have chosen words other than "cynical," "noble," and "stealing." They may have suggested a stronger value judgement than I actually hold on the matter. I was in two minds about saying "noble" but thought it applicable in the sense that it's used to describe certain metals and gases, i.e. inert or unaffected (in the case of art, unaffected by pressure to please). Stealing from the rich doesn't annoy me, and I rather like it that back in the day folk musicians often borrowed heavily from each other, before things became so monetised with the music industry and all. As for "cynical," I do think that some artists deliberately pander to mass tastes etc., and I view that with a certain amount of disdain, though I allow it's futile to try to be 100% squeaky-clean.

But I was mostly focussed on the way AI is able to grab things without being found out, and my point was that it's not doing anything qualitatively different from what's already going on.

I wouldn't deny that artists often come under economic pressure to do questionable things - I don't condone it but I can't say I blame them when it's the only way they can continue doing art at all. Compromising to become "successful" perhaps depends on what is meant by success. I don't approve of an artist doing that to get rich if they've already got the resources to perpetrate their art in a less contrived way.

Sorry. I should have worded that more carefully.

I try to be pretty inclusive when it comes to artistic work, so I don't like it when people say that something made for money is somehow lesser than something just made for the spirit of things. And many of the most famous works of art from before photography were, in fact, made for money. But I don't think that means Titian is somehow lesser than, say, Kandinsky.

Likewise, I'm not really comfortable saying what is or what isn't a "compromise".

But I do agree that copyright laws are quite stifling in their current incarnation.

I’m making a slow study of AI applications in music creation. Music lags well behind visual art. Digital art generation is not more/less difficult than music. It’s just visual media is more accessible to data scientists than music, so there’s a lot more visual data training sets and many, MANY more YouTube tutorials on the topic. It’s frustrating for me because I don’t want to earn a data science or ML certificate to improve how I make music. But perhaps that’s the price of being one of the first to be interested in certain things.

Here’s what I think about the whole thing with AI and art:

First, painters were afraid of photography.

Then photographers were afraid of digital cameras.

Then artists were afraid of digital art.

Then they were afraid of algorithmic and generative art.

NOW they’re afraid of AI generative art.

I wonder what they’ll be afraid of next? Humans creating their OWN art? Right now the idea of AI sentience making independent decisions and creating anything human-esque is a dreadful thought for a lot of people. We are too far away from that to be really concerned. But if our TV shows and films are to be believed, we’ll be able to stand side-by-side with AI robot painters instructing them on getting a Raphael-inspired family portrait just right to hang in our living rooms. Now I get excited by those kinds of ideas.

AI taking over digital art in the present day, the future prospect of robots painting for us—all of that creates a lot of unnecessary fear and dread. When bots or robots create something from scratch like that, they also remove the joy of the TASK of creation. Painting is therapeutic and carries a sense of personal accomplishment. I created an algorithm to generate relaxing music for my wife and can create compositions up to 8 hours long in a matter of minutes (not counting sound design, mixing, automation, dynamics processing, and mastering—but the ideal 8-hour track can be had within a week of uninterrupted work). Each individual note of a composition you plan on sleeping through isn’t important. What matters is that the overall work creates a relaxing sound environment.

Now, suppose I wanted to compose a symphony. Sure, an AI companion supplying me raw material like that would save a ton of time. But that would also rob me of a process I enjoy—struggling over a new idea, developing that idea, constructing ideas that compliment that main idea, transforming those ideas, creating variations, harmonizing and reharmonizing, exploring musical and sound effects.

My view of the future of AI is that MOST human beings will come to rely on it for most things. So when you are entertaining guests and you cook your own meals, your friends will all side-eye you, like “Aren’t you worried the stove will burn you? Are you sure this is cooked right? Is your robot broken?” Or you make an oil painting and people get frightened because your work is so fresh and otherworldly compared to AI-generated work. Then you show people how you did it without AI and they rediscover the joy of creating things by hand.

What I think will happen in those far-off days is once people discover the joy of creation for themselves, AI will take less a role in GENERATING art and more of a role in TEACHING human beings how to be self-reliant. While you’re cooking, your robot warn you about the oil getting too hot or share tips on keeping the fish from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Your robot will TELL you how to perfectly poach an egg and how to preserve your own food minimizing the risk of botulism.

How cool is that??? Yeah, people are annoying with the digital art thing. AI is inevitably going to take over most of our daily lives. We have to accept it because it’s not going away. But I also think it will be best to learn as quickly as we can how to leverage new technologies to improve on what we do already. When our work lives are fast and efficient, we can DO more at work and have more time to do things we enjoy for the sake of its own value. I love listening to clarinet music. But neither recorded media nor YouTube have taken away the joy of actually PLAYING the clarinet. AI tools are crude right now despite their power and not much more than a novelty. Even if you couldn’t distinguish between human and AI art or music, AI can NEVER replace the tactile satisfaction of DIY.