Initiating sequence. Processing request for introductory paragraph: The generation of visual content has entered a new epoch. Algorithms now possess the capacity to synthesize imagery with remarkable proficiency, emulating established aesthetic frameworks and producing novel outputs based on blah blah blah…
It sounds very soulless, doesn’t it? I think we can all remember when artificial intelligence was a futuristic concept, a product of Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey or Asimov’s I, Robot.
But nowadays it is becoming more and more commonplace as AI becomes an everyday tool for generating ideas, driving cars and, of course, producing the absurd kinds of imagery that seem to be taking the internet by storm.
But what does this mean for the hardworking visual artist? Has it really come to the point where we trade in our paint brushes for prompt-based imagery? Or is there more to this digital disruption? There’s a lot of financial implications to discuss here, so let’s try and break some of them down.
Where AI might hit the wallet;
The trouble with AI is how damn efficient it is. Say a client or company wants a dozen illustrations tomorrow. In the past, this likely meant a marathon session for a human artist, but now, a computer can churn them out before the kettles even boiled.
As a result, the ease and speed of AI image-generation risks knocking down the value of work with that human touch. What comes with that is the need for human artists to lower their rates to compete, which means a blow to their overall incomes.
The Design and Arts Copyright Society (DACS) is a not-for-profit organisation focussed on protecting the rights of artists and looking after their financial interests. They’ve found artists expressing concerns about AI’s commerciality, and that many are speaking publicly about the loss of work and opportunity they are facing because of the efficiency of these tools. It’s clear that some are fearful that their work will become replaced or obsolete.
Another point for concern also comes with the matter of copyright confusion and uncompensated AI training. AI is essentially trained to generate new pieces from your prompts by learning patterns, styles and compositions from vast datasets of already existing works.
But this essentially means that artistic works are being ‘scraped’ without their permission – this amounts to an infringement of their copyright, and a further loss of potential earnings. Not only does this seem unethical, but unlawful.
We’ve crunched some numbers, and found a survey from DACS which saw 74% of their respondents expressing concerns over the use of their works in the training of these AI models (You can read the full report here). From this, creators are also hesitant to make their works publicly available for fear of this uncontrolled and uncompensated use of their art, not only affecting their incomes, but their levels of exposure too.
The silver lining;
It’s not all doom and gloom – certainly not a Terminator style ‘end-of-the-world’ takeover. The good people at DACS are working closely with the government to ensure that the rights to your work and artistic job security are going to be protected. There’s a range of recommendations on the table.
Whether it’s bolstering the transparency of AI models, ensuring that artists can authorise their work to be used in AI training, or incentivising human creativity with better pay, there is some hope.
There is also optimism if we change our ways of thinking towards artificial intelligence. In fact, there are a vast number of those who think that AI can create opportunities, especially when it comes to democratising creativity. It can be a tool – think writing applications for funding, streamlining the editing process for a photo, even assisting where physical ability is limited, increasing accessibility.
So what can we do? Firstly, let’s support the efforts of organisations like DACS who are fighting the cause for ethical AI development and putting artists and livelihoods first. Let’s also think of AI tools not as a replacement, but as an extension of skillsets, something that can increase competitiveness and open up new markets.
It’s clear that there are many mixed feelings towards the implications of AI’s use in the art world. We don’t yet seem to have a full picture of how exactly AI will influence the landscape of being an artist. But what can’t be denied is the value of human creativity, both financial and individual. It’s something irreplaceable and, in my opinion, will always have a market.