What About AI Art?

The point of the piece featured is first to illustrate why MadMAT does not feature much AI Art. We value human efforts and skill, and recognize that AI is devaluing artists’ work.  Large models often use artist work without permission or compensation, and then the work produced is sold in direct competition with the artists whose work was stolen.  

The proliferation of AI Art has also made it complicated for us to collect.  Many of those selling AI Art will misrepresent their work as if it were not AI, so we must be circumspect in our efforts.  Some digital painters have started using pictures and video to document their process and prove their work is not AI. 

So why not just ban all AI from the museum?  First, it must be acknowledged that AI Art is an intersection of art and technology, and therefore can’t be ignored by a museum of art and technology.  There are AI Artists who undoubtedly spend a great deal of time iterating and refining to arrive at work that matches their vision. If they say they are artists, who are we to say otherwise?  An artist may use AI as a tool, perhaps getting a limited amount of coding assistance.  Some artists are feeding their own work into a custom model to produce new work.  Live webcam art can turn the viewer’s body into art, but the program must first recognize the body using machine learning.

And it must be acknowledged that the image produced here is not only beautiful, but inventive. Should this inventiveness be celebrated even though there is no soul or intention behind it? It seems likely that by 2050, some AI’s will be recognized as sentient. Will we then need to extend certain rights to AI’s?  If a sentient AI produces art, would it be fair to deny them a spot in a museum because they are not flesh and blood?

There are no clear answers. We must continue to explore the questions.