Every art medium has never lost its aspect as a result of human imagination, passion, and individuality. Art such as a sculpture, painting, or cartoonish image transmits, elicits emotions, and allows the onlooker to interact with the imagination of the artist. As a result of the development of AI-created artwork, however, there is an argument over whether it is better or merely a copy of the original.
AI Art: A New Paradigm?
Artificial intelligence has advanced by leaps and bounds recently. From generating realistic images to generating music, AI has been most precise in pattern recognition and style duplication. Artificially intelligent art-generating tools such as DALL·E, MidJourney, ChatGPT, and many more are capable of producing beautiful, lovely pieces of art within seconds. To others, it has provided them with completely new domains of creativity. The idea that AI produces art is an interesting new phenomenon, isn’t it? These technologies enable those who would not otherwise be able to access to produce artwork and spare time since they can produce artwork on demand. For non-creative people, this is a dream come true- something fun and innovative to play with, without the years of practice that a traditional artist would need. But is this kind of progress a gain or a loss to the world of art?
The Ghibli Effect: A Disturbing Trend
One of the most regrettable trends of AI art is the way it’s impacting industries that are famous for their rich emotional and artistic heritage. Studio Ghibli, the legendary Japanese animation house, is a perfect example of the issue. Guided by visionary director Hayao Miyazaki, the timeless Ghibli films were made after years of diligent effort, self-control, and mood swings. Every frame in a Ghibli film holds a memory, a battle, and a personal experience. But computer programs of artificial intelligence that simulate Ghibli animation are quickly raising eyebrows. It’s as if the human touch and effort of the signature of Ghibli’s work have been eliminated and substituted by a machine. Even in its stunning beauty, the finished product lags behind the spirit and essence derived from an actual human taking full effort into it. Let us ask ourselves, “Are we giving up something precious in the process?“ What’s lost after decades of developing a complicated animation process equates to a few lines of code? The process, the story, and the human emotion that go into each piece of art are worth more than something is worth when it appears as something else.
Emotion and Imperfection at the Heart of Art
Art has never been able to completely depict life. A painting’s flaw, a movie or a song’s- the rough-around-the-edges cartooning, the off-pitched but wholly in-tune melody, or the brash brushstroke- are typically what render it so lovable. These defects render art more vibrant, rich, and close to home. They advise the viewer that the artist genuinely lived, labored, and achieved something. Computer-generated art, however, is too perfect. Their perfection can be fascinating for a while, but it is not as deep as human experience. The stories, experiences, and feelings that provide the why a work of art evokes such strong emotions are missing with computer-generated art. Efficiency is the response, but art was never designed to be efficient.
What Would Happen Without the Human Touch?
We will bring art down to imitation if we let AI take over real human imagination. Art is valuable because of the human touch, the sweat, and the passion each artist brings to their art. Without these, all we are left with is cold, lifeless art forms without the special human touch that art has the ability to share. It would not be surprising that AI art would be attractive to those who look for the easy way out, but we must ask ourselves here: By doing so, what do we lose? Can we even still say that something is art when the machine made it and it has no human touch that makes it beautiful?
Evolution and Imitation in Equilibrium
Surely, AI art is as much a new art form as it is a challenge. Can one utilize AI to assist artists in a way that preserves the worth of human-created art? Remember that art is more about the emotions, stories, and individual meanings that are put into each work than the results.
As technology develops, we have to be sure that we don’t let it overshadow the human touch as the generator of power for art. Only then can we confidently say art is changing and not imitating.
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Writer,
Sudipto Banik
Intern, Content Writing Department
YSSE