Creating art takes actual intelligence
By Alexis Schlesinger Opinion Editor Like many artists, I’ve become increasingly frustrated with the presence of generative artificial intelligence in creative fields. There are a lot of excuses for it, and they’re all pretty lame. There are people who will generate graphics for their event or business, always with the same crowded, lifeless look as every other AI generated slop flyer, and say it was “so much faster and cheaper” than hiring a designer. There are hundreds of free templates you can find and fill in online. Canva and Adobe Express are free to use. There are likely hundreds, if not thousands, of easily accessible graphic designers online who will create a graphic for you for less than $20. Send me an email. I can give you some contacts. If you need a graphic or flyer for your event or business, and you somehow only have one minute before your deadline, and the absolute only thing you have time for is typing in a prompt for instant delivery, you are not ready to be running an event or business of that scale. I would consider your time management skills to be incredibly poor in that case, and would not assume your event or product to be of very high quality. You probably treat other aspects of your event or business with the same attitude you have for your advertisements. Faster is better. Always. Isn’t it? No matter how poor the quality, no matter how ugly. Not only are AI generated graphics lazy, boring, and ugly, you, as a human being who wants other human beings to interact with you for your benefit, are refusing to interact with other human beings because it would take longer. But no, I’m sure that A. flyer will get everyone to attend your mediocre Tuesday night DJ set or buy that $25-before-tax-and-tip burger from your couple-with-a-dream food truck. If you truly believe any form of A.I.-generated media is the better option, you should seriously reevaluate your qualifications to do whatever it is you’re trying to use that generated graphic for. One of the most unintelligent excuses I have heard people use to excuse their use of A.I. generated graphics is their own inability to create. “Well, I don’t know how to draw/paint/write/film/photograph/design that, but I have the idea in my head, so this still counts as my own art.” “I wrote the prompt, so I created art.” You didn’t create anything. You didn’t give life to anything. You did not bring anything new into this world. What you generated is not original. Generative A.I. is not this magical mind-reading technology that goes into your brain and puts your vision into reality. Generative A.I. collects data from what already exists, and is a technology entirely dependent on what came before it. When you type in a prompt to whatever generative A.I. software you use to “bring your creative vision to life,” it becomes a steamrolled version of thousands of real people’s creative visions that are being stolen from. There is no life in your A.I. generated cyberscapes and corny web comics because there is no discernable personality or life behind it. “But I can’t -” Learn how. Pick up a pencil and a piece of paper and start drawing, even if it’s terrible. It’s yours. You’ve created something. Pick up your phone and start filming that short film you want to make. Maybe your video quality isn’t cinema level, but you’ve created something. Read a book! Please, for the love of anything, go to the library (it’s free) and please read a book. Look up YouTube tutorials online on how to get started on making art in your desired medium. Ask your friend who makes real art for tips. Ask to hang out with them while they work. Ask to talk to them. Ask the same things of a stranger who creates art. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much people will be willing to share with you in order to bring more real art into the world. You will gain so much more substance as a person by interacting with other people. You will actually create something if you make the choice to care about other human beings and their creations.
