The Impact of AI Art in the Art Community

By:  Samantha Kabiling | Seasonal Public Relations Intern | Digital4Good

Creating and sharing beautiful art online is a wonderful way to bring people together and support independent artists. However, with advancements in technology, a newer phenomenon has emerged and sparked controversy within the art world: artificial intelligence (AI)-generated art. 

AI art has been around since the early 2010s, but has recently grown more advanced. Disagreements within the art community arise when AI users claim complete ownership of a piece they generated in minutes using a machine learning (ML)-based image tool. This places them in opposition with artists who have been practicing and honing their skills for many years. 

Let’s dive into what AI art is, the controversy surrounding it, and how to identify a piece as artificially generated the next time you’re browsing social media.

What Is AI Art?

You may have already seen an AI-generated art piece without even realizing it. To create AI-generated art, users will leverage an application such as Midjourney, DALL-E, or ImagineArt. The user selects their desired styles or categories, describes the scene they want depicted, and chooses which piece they like best. This process usually takes less than five minutes. 

Is AI Art “Real Art”?

Imagine you are a painter who has spent years honing your craft. One day, you come across an artificially generated version of your most recent painting on your social media feed. In the caption, a stranger claims the work as their own, and the comments section is filled with users praising the stranger’s unique talent. 

Unfortunately, this upsetting scenario is already a reality for many artists who post their original work online.

A study published by AIES: AI, Ethics, and Society explains the legal issues associated with claiming ownership of “generative AI art” and labeling it as an original piece. The researchers also argue that the technology itself should not be credited as an artist, but simply as an “image generator.” 

Here are some of the biggest issues posed by AI art:

• Copyright Issues: Image generators can “steal” artwork by taking an artist’s piece and altering it to appear different from the original. 

• Fewer Job Opportunities: Companies may prefer the ease of image generation to an original piece by a human artist. 

• Lacking a Human Touch: Image generators can create truly striking images, but a closer look at an artificially generated piece often reveals unsettling details that do not fit with the rest of the piece, such as awkward expressions or extra fingers on the subject’s hand.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa altered by AI. (Source: Playbuzz)

Identifying AI Art

As AI technology grows more and more sophisticated, it becomes tougher for people to distinguish AI-generated images from real art. Here are a few tips for discerning whether an image is artificially generated.

Check the Hands

While many artists experience difficulty with drawing hands, AI has an even harder time! Artists do their best to depict hands realistically, but image generators tend to place hands in an awkward position.

Too Polished

Artists will incorporate every tiny detail to capture the essence of their subject, such as flyaway hairs and uneven stitches in a piece of clothing. Meanwhile, image generators will often neglect to include these realistic details. 

Minor Inconsistencies

Check to see if the lighting is off, the subject’s hair is flowing in an odd direction, or the arms are positioned in a way that is inhumanly possible. On occasion, an AI artist will post their original art along with artificially generated pieces — check for a drastic change in style.

An example of stolen art. (Source: GenelJumalon on X)

Takeaway

While some users are transparent about their images being artificially generated, others will pass AI images off as their own artwork. Using image generators for one’s own entertainment is not the issue; however, claiming these images as your own is. The next time you’re engaging with the art community online, make sure to follow the tips in the previous section, and if you see an original artist you like, leave them a like and positive comment!

For more tips and information about AI, visit our website, Instagram, and TikTok!