The Rise of AI Art and the Fall of Human Expression

What is the difference between Artificial Intelligence art and human made art? In reality it may be much harder to distinguish than one would think, though the effects can be felt. AI has come a long way in recent years; creating images, music, and even literature with just a few clicks. With AI art becoming more common it has made many artists and critics raise warnings or voice concerns. Many are worried that society’s art may be losing the human touch; thought, emotion, and difficulty that makes art meaningful. When we can type in an AI generator to make a painting or ‘original’ idea in seconds it loses the real creativity, and the beauty that is the artistic labor.
The real difference between AI and human art comes from the process of the making of the art itself. AI focuses on speed over skill, meaning that AI can produce millions of “pieces” before an artist can create one. Due to the focus on speed and production, the art it produces loses the emotion and thought process that gives art feelings to the viewer. Also AI uses past creations and tries to recreate them or uses them to create a similar piece. True this is similar to the human process of art (taking inspiration from other pieces), but with AI lacking in original thought, can AI art truly be original?
Another important aspect to AI’s use of others’ art as a form of influence, is the fact that, for the most part, AI does not give credit to the artists that it took inspiration from. AI art also takes away from the experimentation aspect that more art is usually inspired from. Without any mistakes, AI being perfect and all, art is unlikely to expand to much more and there is going to be a lull in original art.
AI art does not just affect the viewer’s experience with the piece, it is also devaluing the labor of the artist themselves. With AI being able to produce many pieces with little effort and free or little price, human artists are becoming less sought after. Humans will always take longer to create than AI and most times demand for proper compensation. Due to this AI could be a better alternative for those looking for a piece made quickly and cheaply. Recently people have been more likely to use AI when looking to create a quick creative picture or video. This creates a creative pressure for artists who feel forced to adapt quickly and to a style they may not actually feel suits them. It has been found though, that when aware that it is an AI piece, clients tend to prefer human made pieces instead, but as many know, it can be difficult to tell whether it is AI or not.
Art is also about culture and telling stories, sharing history, emotion, and different walks of life through image. AI will never be able to mimic the human soul that is necessary to create these masterpieces. It will never have the emotion that comes from experiencing life and because of that, the art it creates will lack depth, making it surface level and meaningless. Most have a hard time deciphering AI generated art from other more contemporary pieces, but those who do, can tell from the more robotic feeling; the less human imperfection that is arguably art.
In conclusion, AI should not be used to create art but instead as a tool to help with the process. Using AI to create art hurts the millions of artists who make a living creating and experimenting with different media. AI disrupts the creative process and creates something unoriginal and lacking in meaning and depth.