Will Generative A.I. Replace Artists? (2023)

In 1997, perhaps the greatest chess player in history, Gary Kasparov, lost to a machine – an IBM-built supercomputer called Deep Blue. For many, this historical loss became the event that signified a start of a new era where machine intelligence bests human intellect.

Flash forward two decades, the chess-playing algorithm that Deep Blue used can easily run in the background on your smartphone, while at the same time you mess around with a LIDAR scanner and facetime your friends.

You are an artist, you use technology to create art and express yourself. Kasparov’s knowledge has been threatened by a machine but a machine will never be able to create art, right?

The cover for this blog post has been generated using Dreamstudio and illustrations above and below using Dall-E.

Therefore, the question is not whether machines can create art in the caliber of Gustav Klimt (they already can), but whether they will soon be able to do so faster, more efficiently, and cheaper than human artists.

What is Generative AI, and why is it different?

The idea that computers could help us express ourselves creatively is hardly new. Computer-generated art has been around since the early 1950s. But up until recently, machines had no chance to outcompete humans in any creative endeavor.

Machines are good at analyzing the massive datasets they are fed, finding patterns in them, and providing you with answers or predictions (ETA on your pizza delivery, for example). However, the new category called “Generative AI” shook up the art world and creative industries as it is well on the way to becoming faster and cheaper and: in some cases – better than what humans can create by hand.

(Video) #36: Will AI replace artists?

Generative AI is AI that is trained on massive amounts of data. It imitates its patterns and creates something new. So instead of being fed with instructions on how to create a specific result ( Painting a painting of a dog ), the machine is fed with data of a million dog paintings and generates a new dog painting based on all the input data it was fed.

According to an article written by Sonya Huang, Pat Grady and GPT-3 (yes, deep learning language model which produces human-like-text), every industry that requires humans to create original work is up for reinvention and it is likely that “certain job functions may be completely replaced by generative AI, while others are more likely to thrive from a tight iterative cycle between human and machine”.

This goes for everything from arts and entertainment, to manufacturing, to healthcare. As far as AI is concerned, our creative industries are now its new playground.

Except it's not - generative AI is only the latest tool in a toolbox, and anyone will have access to it.

To disrupt, not replace

As Garry Kasparov lost to Deep Blue in 1997, similarly in the summer of 2022, artists who participated in Colorado's state fair art competition had an unfortunate experience of losing against artificial intelligence too.

Jason Allen, a video game designer, had entered the contest with an artwork created using Midjourney, an artificial intelligence program that turns text prompts into images. After revealing how the artwork was created Allen’s work went viral and sparked a massive backlash from other artists.

(Video) Doomed To Be Replaced: Is AI Art Theft?

Allen stated that it took him “many weeks of fine-tuning” and “100s of different images” to achieve the desired result, resulting in approximately 80 hours of work. After reading these numbers one shouldn’t think that artificial intelligence is here to replace.

Change an artist's creative process – definitely.

Will Generative A.I. Replace Artists? (4)

Will Generative A.I. Replace Artists? (5)

(Video) Democratizing Creativity: How A.I. will replace artists

Will Generative A.I. Replace Artists? (6)

The reality is that AI art won’t replace artists. Researcher Anne Ploin, of the Oxford Internet Institute, argues that the creative decision-making part, which is critical in art will not be replaced by AI technology.

In her words, “AI models can extrapolate in unexpected ways, draw attention to an entirely unrecognised factor in a certain style of painting [from having been trained on hundreds of artworks]. But machine learning models aren’t autonomous.”

Machine learning models aren't autonomous. They require human agency to produce results. Therefore, it is up to the artist to choose how and for what purpose to use it.

Generative AI is capable of producing jaw-dropping results in a matter of seconds but will it ultimately replace artists?
No, but it might be the catalyst that helps artists embrace new, exciting and diverse styles.

(Video) Will A.I. Art Replace Artists? — Art Chat with Adrian Virlan

(Answer generated using writing AI program)

FAQs

Will AI-generated art replace artists? ›

Some individuals predict that AI will someday replace artists totally, but this is unlikely to happen soon. Although artificial intelligence is capable of producing technically proficient works of art, it is not yet capable of producing works of truly creative or innovative design.

Will AI replace CG artists? ›

Conclusion. AI art can never replace human artists as they will always be required to choose the subject and its surroundings for producing the desired results. Even though generative AI art may look great, it still needs help from the human artist.

Will AI replace creativity? ›

AI simply cannot be creative in the same way that humans are. It can generate fresh ideas, but it cannot create something truly original. While AI can generate innovative ideas, it cannot yet replicate the complex processes involved in human creativity.

How will AI affect artists? ›

AI is impacting the art industry in many ways -- namely by making creation accessible to anyone, influencing the art market and collaborating with humans to improve the quality of output. In a world where technology is rapidly advancing, AI is now transforming the way art is created.

Is AI art the end of artists? ›

AI-generated art is an interesting and rapidly evolving area, and it is still very much in its infancy. While it has the potential to change the way that art is created and consumed, it is unlikely that it will completely replace human artists or the role of art in society.

Is AI art a threat to artists? ›

Artificial intelligence art is not comparable to human-made art, backed with stories and emotions, but the real threat is the lack of compensation towards ill-credited artists.

Will AI take over musicians? ›

This occupation has been voted '23%' by our users to be fully automated within the next two decades. Our visitors have voted that there is a small chance this occupation will be replaced by robots/AI. This is further validated by the automation risk level we have generated, which suggests a 45% chance of automation.

Is AI going to take over graphic design? ›

AI may one day be able to take over some graphic design tasks, but it can't replace a human designer entirely. AI is not a substitute for human creativity, but it can be used to assist with tasks that are repetitive and time consuming. AI can also be used to generate ideas and concepts.

Does 3D artist have future? ›

Demand for advanced 3D skills won't go away as 3D design becomes more accessible; it will still have a place in niche roles and industries.

What jobs AI Cannot replace? ›

These are some of the jobs that are near-impossible that AI will be able to replace them in the coming years.
  • Teachers: ...
  • Lawyers and Judges. ...
  • Directors, Managers and CEOs. ...
  • Politicians. ...
  • HR Managers. ...
  • Singers. ...
  • Psychologists and Psychiatrists. ...
  • Priests and other spiritual figures.

Will AI replace 3d artists? ›

Can 3d artists be replaced by AI? I, personally, believe this is easily possible. We have already seen articles proving that it is possible for artificial intelligence to generate 3d models. As I explained before, we are only enabling algorithms to replace 3d artists by uploading massive quantities of data online.

Why AI can t replace human creativity? ›

Artificial intelligence mimics creativity to create art from previous work. It works off of other people's data. It does not have the capability to read human emotions and create demanded art based on social norms. Consciousness and human emotion is why AI will never match human creativity.

Is AI the future of art? ›

Although artificial intelligence has been around for a while, technology has recently experienced a comeback in the field of fine arts. AI is a perfect fit for the creative industries since it can be utilized to develop content efficiently, expedite workflows, and improve creative outcomes.

How is AI changing art? ›

Unlike old-fashioned generative art, AI-generated art is not produced with an explicit set of programming instructions provided by human artists; instead, it involves training an algorithm on a dataset so that it can later produce artworks (images, music, or video clips) using its own internal parameters that have not ...

Why are artists against AI art? ›

Artificial intelligence has advanced enough to create a seemingly original artwork in the style of living artists within minutes. Some artists argue that these AI models breach copyright law. Today on the show, we follow an artist who took action and joined a class-action lawsuit.

Why are artists against AI generated images? ›

Many artists consider AI-art generation tools unethical as they're often trained using datasets that contain artwork scraped from the internet without their creators' permission — in some circumstances, you can even see traces of a watermark or signature.

What is the criticism of AI art? ›

After AI companies introduced some of the most dominant tools of 2022, many bold predictions were made. Many critics proclaimed the demise of art, the elimination of creative jobs, and the erosion of human creativity.

Will artists become obsolete? ›

It is extremely unlikely that humans will stop creating art just because a piece of technology can make AI-generated artworks. The way in which contemporary artists operate might be influenced by AI, and the creative sector might incorporate AI into its workflows, but human-created art will not disappear.

What do artists think of AI art? ›

Artists can view AI not as a threat but as a tool, similar to how art transitioned to digital tools from traditional methods. It can be a means to augment the creative process in novel ways and act as a creative guide through the process of idea generation or concept development.

What is the issue with AI-generated art? ›

Copyright. Copyright is a huge issue when it comes to AI-generated art. To make it clear right off the bat, in the US, there are no copyright protections for works created by a machine; copyrightable works require human authorship. That isn't stopping people from trying to copyright AI-generated art.

Will musicians run out of music? ›

Although the number of possible melodies is finite, it is so very large that for all practical purposes, the supply of new tunes is infinite.

What jobs will be left after AI takes over? ›

The Five Jobs Left After AI Automation
  • Creating AI Systems. In order to automate physical labor or knowledge work, someone has to build these automation systems. ...
  • Training AI Systems. ...
  • Managing AI Systems. ...
  • Maintaining AI Systems. ...
  • Uniquely Human Roles.
Apr 1, 2022

What jobs will be eliminated by AI? ›

  • Key takeaways. AI has well and truly hit the mainstream, with startups touting its potential to disrupt almost every industry imaginable. ...
  • Factory Worker. In reality, this has already been happening for quite some time. ...
  • Couriers. ...
  • Investment Analyst. ...
  • Customer Service. ...
  • Security Guards. ...
  • Exploring AI investing.
Nov 17, 2022

Will AI replace authors? ›

Overall, while AI systems may be able to assist with certain aspects of the writing process or generate content in specific contexts, it is unlikely that they will fully replace human authors in the near future.

Will artificial intelligence remove designers from the design process? ›

The general consensus seems to be that AI will not remove the need for UX design, nor will it replace human UX designers. UX design is arguably one of the most human-centric jobs out there. It requires empathy to relate to your target users and understand the problems they need you to solve.

Is 3D modeling oversaturated? ›

Currently, the job market is oversaturated with 3D artists working in illustration or book design, so these might be the fields that are currently best-avoided. Some of the growing job categories for 3D artists include mobile advertising, social media marketing, and video editing and design.

Is 3D artist a stable career? ›

Yes, being a 3D artist is a good career.

3D artists earn good money at an average of $69,000 a year, and demand for qualified 3D artists is expected to continue. Working as a 3D artist provides a lot of versatility in the type of industries and projects you can work on.

Is there a demand for 3D artists? ›

Luckily, 3D modelers enjoy incredibly high demand for their talents. Not only does it take dedication to develop the skills necessary to create at a professional level, but there are some main pillars of entertainment that are responsible for the explosion of 3D modeling demand.

Which jobs are most likely to be replaced by AI? ›

Tech jobs such as software developers, web developers, computer programmers, coders, and data scientists are "pretty amenable" to AI technologies "displacing more of their work," Madgavkar said.

What job is least likely to be replaced by robots? ›

These jobs may also depend on social skills and interpersonal relationships; in short, human qualities that no robot is expected to assume any time soon.
...
Jobs Least Likely to Be Replaced by Robots
  • Healthcare social workers.
  • Oral and maxillofacial surgeons.
  • First-line supervisors of fire fighting and prevention workers.
Oct 19, 2022

What will AI replace in the future? ›

AI and automation will replace most blue-collar work and “make” products for minimal marginal cost. Robots and AI will take over the manufacturing, delivery, design and marketing of most goods. AI service robots will do almost all household chores for us.

Will AI take over actors? ›

This occupation has been voted '25%' by our users to be fully automated within the next two decades. Our visitors have voted that there is a small chance this occupation will be replaced by robots/AI. This is further validated by the automation risk level we have generated, which suggests a 15% chance of automation.

Will robots take over art? ›

There has been an explosion of interest in 'creative AI', but does this mean that artists will be replaced by machines? No, definitely not, says Anne Ploin, Oxford Internet Institute researcher and one of the team behind today's report on the potential impact of machine learning (ML) on creative work.

Will Dall E 2 replace artists? ›

And its creators deny that DALL-E 2 will take over artists' jobs. As they said, the software is intended as a tool that "enhances and extends the creative process", not something meant to replace humans.

Will AI art cause artists to lose their jobs? ›

No, AI art is not likely to cause artists to lose their jobs, as AI art is still largely experimental and can't yet match the level of creativity and uniqueness found in human-made art.

Is AI capable of artistic creativity? ›

People consider creativity to be inherently human. However, artificial intelligence (AI) has reached the stage where it can be creative as well. A recent competition attracted anger from artists after it awarded a prize to an artwork created by an AI model known as Midjourney.

What are the pros and cons of AI art? ›

Overall, there are both pros and cons to using AI in art. While it can certainly lead to increased creativity and innovation, as well as greater efficiency, there are also ethical concerns and the risk of losing the human touch and personal connection that are often present in traditional art.

Can digital art replace traditional art? ›

Digital art can never replace traditional art.

While it can certainly try, all digital art that attempts to replicate the feel of traditional mediums fall just a little short of the real thing. If you want to learn to work with traditional mediums, nothing will replace the feeling of real pigment on a physical surface.

Can art be replaced by robots? ›

Some individuals predict that AI will someday replace artists totally, but this is unlikely to happen soon. Although artificial intelligence is capable of producing technically proficient works of art, it is not yet capable of producing works of truly creative or innovative design.

Can AI replace 3d artists? ›

Can 3d artists be replaced by AI? I, personally, believe this is easily possible. We have already seen articles proving that it is possible for artificial intelligence to generate 3d models. As I explained before, we are only enabling algorithms to replace 3d artists by uploading massive quantities of data online.

Is AI-generated art considered art? ›

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly popular for generating images, a question has roiled the art world: Can AI create art? At bitforms gallery in San Francisco, the answer is yes.

Why do people say digital art is not art? ›

Some commenters will say that digital art isn't art, that the availability of digital tools makes it easy, that it's “cheating,” or say that the app/computer does everything for the creators. For example, take this drawing of dynamite by Nick Jacoy, @/pastanick.

What are the weaknesses of digital art? ›

Disadvantages of Digital Art

Limitless possibilities can lead to creative paralysis. No Original Copy. No original physical copy. It can be printed on textured paper but it's not the same as an original painting.

Why is digital art not considered as true art? ›

While traditional art involves a mastery of techniques like manual brush strokes and color blending, digital art needs expert knowledge about how to use various software tools to create different effects. Some argue that technological tools facilitate painting to an extent that it becomes cheating.

Why artists are against AI art? ›

Artificial intelligence has advanced enough to create a seemingly original artwork in the style of living artists within minutes. Some artists argue that these AI models breach copyright law.

Is AI going to replace graphic designers? ›

AI may one day be able to take over some graphic design tasks, but it can't replace a human designer entirely. AI is not a substitute for human creativity, but it can be used to assist with tasks that are repetitive and time consuming. AI can also be used to generate ideas and concepts.

Will AI take over drawing? ›

It is extremely unlikely that humans will stop creating art just because a piece of technology can make AI-generated artworks. The way in which contemporary artists operate might be influenced by AI, and the creative sector might incorporate AI into its workflows, but human-created art will not disappear.

Will AI art replace illustrators? ›

The reality is that AI art won't replace artists.

Researcher Anne Ploin, of the Oxford Internet Institute, argues that the creative decision-making part, which is critical in art will not be replaced by AI technology.

What is the downside of AI art? ›

Cons: Lack of human touch: AI generated art may lack the personal touch and emotional depth that comes with being created by a human artist. Ethical concerns: Some people are concerned about the ethical implications of using AI to create art, particularly if it results in the displacement of human artists.

What are the limitations of AI art? ›

AI art models still struggle to draw hands correctly. Image created by the author using Stable Diffusion. There's also the obvious constraint that these models can only produce digital art. They can't work with oils or pastels like people can.

Videos

1. How AI Art will SAVE Artists, not destroy us.
(e r g o j o s h)
2. The END for concept artists? Will AI replace CONCEPT ARTISTS?
(Trent Kaniuga)
3. Will Artificial Intelligence Replace Artists?
(Cecile Yadro)
4. Introducing SambaNova Suite; Generative AI for Enterprise from SambaNova Systems
(SambaNova Systems)
5. Ai ART: I'm angry at artists
(Ethan Becker)
6. Can AI replace artists? - Art Department Podcast #057
(Art Department Podcast)
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