AI Art Will Only Make Us Love Artists More
Ever since the rise of AI—specifically its use for artistic purposes, like creating images that look like the recent work of your favorite artist or writing rhyming poems to entertain your friends—I’ve been hearing a wide range of emotions about it.
As I see it, the spectrum of reactions seems to lie between two extremes, with people falling at various points along this scale.
On one side, you have those who don’t understand the fuss. AI can write poems—so what? It can create realistic paintings or images—well, that’s amazing! When someone mentions “creativity,” these people dive into philosophical debates like, “What is creativity, anyway?” or “What truly makes us special as humans?” The more extreme among them might even say, “Who cares if a few painters lose their jobs? People who choose art as a career are crazy to begin with.”
On the other side, there are people waving red flags and shouting warnings about “AI replacing us.” They argue that AI isn’t really making art at all—it’s just fooling us with an illusion and dragging creativity down to a cheap, shallow level.
I’m not here to pick a side (maybe I’ll write about that some other time), but I do want to argue that no matter where you stand, AI art will ultimately make us appreciate and love human art even more.
Here’s why:
1. AI Can Help Artists Create Their Own Art
Imagine being a writer who wants to write in English, but it’s not your first language. You’d love someone to point out, “Hey, this grammar is off—try these fixes.” You could then decide whether to implement those changes based on your judgment. (That writer is me, by the way.) Or picture a designer who uses AI to quickly create mockups for an idea, helping them visualize their vision or brainstorm around it. Used correctly, AI can be a tool that helps us create our own art.
2. People Want People
While AI art can look like human art, it doesn’t have a human behind it. There’s no real narrative, backstory, or emotional connection—just a model and a prompt. When people admire art, they’re often drawn to the person behind it: their journey, their struggles, and their unique perspective. Fans want to wait anxiously for the next book from their favorite author, not just a next book.
From this, I see two possible outcomes:
- AI art will emphasize the value of human art. People will realize they crave the humanity behind the work and deepen their appreciation for the artists they love. AI art may become just another low-quality genre of art.
- AI art will evolve into its own artistic form. While many might create passable images, some will excel at using AI in ways that express emotions and captivate audiences. These creators might emerge as a new kind of artist, blending human intention with AI capabilities, making “AI art” more “human.”
So what will actually happen? I’m not sure. But I believe that the future for artists isn’t as scary as some people think. In fact, I think it looks exciting. Only time will tell, but for now, I’m choosing to stay optimistic.
If you have thoughts to share, feel free to reply to me by email. I’d love to hear from you!