Hegde, Manu

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Hegde 1Manu HegdeJuliana WardENGLWRIT 112H2 November 2022Artificial Intelligence Art: The End of Creativity or the Start of Something New?Throughout history, art, music, and language have been considered the purest forms ofhuman expression, representing our deepest emotions and enriching our cultures. But what iftechnology stripped this facet of humanity from us? Similar to automation overtaking the laborindustry, technology using artificial intelligence (AI) has led to the creation of AI-driven art,music, and literature. By scraping through existing artwork and analyzing certain features, thesemodels only need text prompts when generating artwork. Although a future where robots andhumans are indistinguishable may feel far off, AI-driven art has already surpassed works madeby humans, opening up limitless possibilities for the future of these innovations. However,despite the implications, AI-driven art will not lead to the demise of the art world, as previoustechnological advancements have expanded into new facets of creation rather than disrupting thefield; the potential of this technology will work in collaboration with artists to challenge theircreativity and push the boundaries of art; and, most importantly, art possesses intangible factorsthat simply cannot be captured by prewritten algorithms, which will instead expand the field.First, this development in technology can be compared to past advancements, many ofwhich were initially viewed as threats to the art world due to their newfound convenience. Forexample, “many painters recoiled at the invention of the camera, which they saw as adebasement of human artistry” (Roose). Artists felt threatened by the camera’s ability toHegde 2perfectly capture and encase moments on film, as they could never create art as realistic as whata camera was able to preserve. However, nowadays, it is clear that cameras have not overtakenthe art scene, and instead developed into their own subgenre of art while intertwining andpushing the possibilities of traditional art. The fact that the camera did not dominate the artscene shows that emotion and personal connection are core to the creation of art, a connectionthat is often captured best through the brutal, yet gratifying process of physical creation.It is natural for many to feel cautious of change, especially change that is surrounded byso much hype, but AI is simply another tool that allows art to be approached from a differentperspective and is limited once intangible factors are involved. Furthermore, as DeirdreLoughridge, an associate professor of music at Northeastern University, says, as new technologybecomes more popular in the mainstream, it will push artists “to radically rethink how they dotheir work, spend their time and structure their creative process” (Mello-Klein). In this case,AI-driven art can allow artists to explore their limits by generating novel works and sparkingnew ideas that could not be considered otherwise, while preserving the value of creativity.This idea further extends to music, a field where technologies have become the normwhen producing new songs. Today, many are not familiar with the prevalence of AI whencreating music; for example, Auto-Tune, a once controversial pitch correction processor, is nowa default tool accepted by music producers, musicians, and listeners alike (Mello-Klein), andquantization is a popular technique that can eliminate imprecise rhythm and articulation. As amusician myself, I look forward to witnessing the impact of technology on the art of music, as itis already present in my practice and performances through the use of tuners, metronomes, andrecordings. Furthermore, sound technology now defines how music is experienced, with audioHegde 3engineers influencing the perception of performances as much as the musicians themselves.Many artists today are leveraging technology in unique ways to further shape their sound,producing new funky licks that wouldn’t have been possible just a decade earlier. Many times,caution surrounding the use of new technologies stems from a lack of understanding, soestablishing the positive potential of these technologies is critical for favorable perceptions. It isinevitable that technology, something so prevalent in our daily lives, will continue to influenceall aspects of humanity, but it is important to understand that progress does not necessarilysignify the loss of human qualities; rather, this technology can serve as a catalyst for furtheradvancements that continue “to blur the line between curation and creation” (Milliére).As AI continues to grow, so does the recognition to collaborate with it, rather than resistit out of fear. It is important to note that current AI-driven art is still lightyears away from thedystopian fantasy that many people envision. As shown by a study conducted by the creators ofthe artificial intelligence creative adversarial network (AICAN), when participants were asked todifferentiate between AI-created and human-created artworks, the latter was consistently ratedhigher for its composition, degree of expression, and aesthetic value (Cetinic and She 11).Clearly, the value of art stems from its ability to evoke the viewer’s emotion, which is mosteffective when a human artist imbues their meaning and purpose within a piece. This becomeseven more apparent in music, where technical accuracy and rigidity may hinder a performance’simpact, as the music relies heavily on the emotions and passion the performance exudes.With AI-based models, it is important to note that to create a “creative [model] is theintegration of self-reflection and the ability to change behaviour accordingly” (Sturm et al. 10).However, existing AI-based models are “built by scraping millions of images from the open web,Hegde 4then teaching algorithms to recognize patterns and relationships in those images and generatenew ones in the same style” (Roose), meaning they are more so creating compilations of existingpieces rather than new works. This is why algorithms will likely never fully capture the nuanceof human art, as art entails the existence of an intention, purpose, and emotion for both the artistand the audience; in the rare case that these models do become complex enough to producehuman-like artwork, they can provide valuable insight into the creativity of the human brain.Furthermore, human artists can use AI-driven art to their advantage; similar to how the turntablewas initially “designed to facilitate playback at home but has become a performance tool in waysthat were not intended by its developers or manufacturer” (Sturm et al. 12), these models canprovide inspiration for designers as they outline their own ideas for new, creative pieces.When discussing AI-driven art, most hesitancy stems from knowing that artists spendyears honing their skills and dedicate hundreds of hours towards their pieces, only to be replacedby a programmed model that can tailor-make pieces within seconds. Considering this, whywould clients pay hundreds of dollars when a computer can generate such pieces for muchcheaper and quicker? Before answering this question, however, it is important to understand thatthis technology isn’t inherently good or bad; rather, its impact will be solely dependent on how itis used. As established previously, this technology will not replace artists, and at most willmerely surpass traditional art in its technical composition; no matter how advanced art-producingtechnology becomes, traditional art will continue to elicit emotion to a far greater extent. As JonMcCormack, a professor at Monash University, explains, there are many factors “consideredimportant to aesthetic theory that cannot be measured directly. These features or properties aregenerally interpreted rather than measured, often in a context-sensitive way” (Romero andHegde 5Machado 437), solidifying that these models will never be able to fully quantify art.Where this technology will shine is in its ability to increase the accessibility of the artworld to the general populace. Many who initially felt intimidated by the art world can startexperimenting with their own ideas without the need for expensive tools and materials thanksto systems like Midjourney and DALL·E 2; the latter of which sparked a trend that encouragedmany to create unique and humorous prompts to generate the strangest images possible, such asa bottle of ranch testifying in court. These models will allow individuals to explore theirbrewing ideas and visualize the outcome of their artistic vision. Soon, individuals willtransition towards creating their own art without the aid of these programs. No matter howadvanced these models may become, their use will never completely emulate what it is to trulycreate art; creating art is a therapeutic, cathartic journey that allows people to be vulnerable andpour their deepest emotions onto the canvas. Of course, this technology can be misused, bothby greedy corporations and those who claim the products of these models as their own artwork,prompting some to consider the true authors of AI art: “The notion of AIs as authors might beadopted to prevent humans from claiming too much, rather than preventing AIs from notgetting credit due” (Galanter 4). However, if these models continue to grow and are usedresponsibly, both by artists and consumers, the sky is the limit for what new forms of art can bediscovered and developed.Through AI-driven art, AI has entered the mainstream and interacted with the productionof art, a process thought to be exclusive to humans. Although the current state of AI art does notpresent any significant dangers to the art world, it is critical to examine technologicaladvancements and determine whether they will have any unintended consequences. As AIHegde 6progresses and fully integrates into our daily lives, technological literacy will be integral toproperly control this exponential transition. Ensuring we use AI as a tool to learn more aboutourselves and the world around us, while also accepting the shift in what it means to create art,and what constitutes a piece of art itself, will be most important. Many may develop myopiawhen considering technology in the long term, so ensuring that we understand its impact, effects,and consequences will be a necessity as we take more steps to digitize the world around us.Hegde 7Works CitedBob L. T. Sturm, et al. “Artificial Intelligence and Music: Open Questions of Copyright Law andEngineering Praxis.” Arts, vol. 8, no. 3, Sept. 2019, p. 115. EBSCOhost,https://doi.org/10.3390/arts8030115.Cetinic, Eva, and James She. Understanding and Creating Art with AI: Review and Outlook.2021. EBSCOhost,https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,sso&db=edsarx&AN =edsarx.2102.09109&site=eds-live&scope=site.Mello-Klien, Cody. “Art and AI could mean the end for human creativity.” News@Northeastern,9 Sept. 2022, https://news.northeastern.edu/2022/09/09/art-and-ai/.Milliére, Raphaël. “AI Art Is Challenging the Boundaries of Curation.” Wired, 17 Jul. 2022,https://www.wired.com/story/dalle-art-curation-artificial-intelligence/.Philip Galanter. “Towards Ethical Relationships with Machines That Make Art.” Artnodes, no.26, Sept. 2020. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.7238/a.v0i26.3371.Romero, Juan, and Penousal Machado. The Art of Artificial Evolution: A Handbook onEvolutionary Art and Music. Springer, 2008. EBSCOhost,https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,sso&db=cat08940a&AN=umas.UMSPR1010079783540728771&site=eds-live&scope=site.Roose, Kevin. “An A.I.-Generated Picture Won an Art Prize. Artists Aren’t Happy.” New YorkTimes, 2 Sept. 2022,https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/02/technology/ai-artificial-intelligence-artists.html.

Artificial Intelligence Art: The End of Creativity or the Start of Something New?

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Artificial Intelligence Art: The End of Creativity or the Start of Something New?

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