Is AI a threat to artists or just another tool?

By Bailey Brannon, reporter

As AI starts to gain popularity, the creative industry is questioning what impact it will have on their livelihoods.

AI Software has the capability to create art in seconds, allowing anyone to create their own artwork simply from text prompts.

Online websites such as Nightcafe give users the choice of multiple algorithms and styles.

People can then order custom prints of their own creations.

Software like this has given artists cause for concern with anyone having the ability to create art.

Auckland artist and illustrator Caitlin Symonds was filled with fear over what the software might do to her future as an artist.

She said art can be expensive and time consuming, while AI does it cheaper and in just a fraction of the time.

"If it gets to that point it will take away people's jobs, companies will want to use the cheaper option of AI.

"That would be everyone in my field out of a job basically."

The line between art created by humans and by AI is becoming increasingly blurred as time goes on, she said.

"The initial stages of AI you would type in prompts and get a person with six fingers back.

"Now we are getting to the point where it looks so real, like it's done by hand and it's really scary," she said.

AI's ability to generate its own content relies on learning from human input and existing creations.

Symonds said AI has to learn from other art on the internet.

"It's basically stealing artists work without their permission, then feeding them into generators that are making them smarter and be able to create these amazing pieces of work," she said.

It was frustrating that people attempt to sell themselves as artists through AI creations while other pour their heart and soul into their creations, she said.

However, she said she was glad work created through AI cannot be copyrighted.

Not all artists see AI as a threat to them.

Graphic designer Leigh Punivalu said it will serve as a tool and will be beneficial to the art community.

"For designers that make things like websites and logos, AI-generated art will be a tool that we can use to add to our own artworks," he said.

Some artists, depending on their artform, would be more at risk than others, he said.

But he said that people will always seek out a level of human element to their artwork, giving a constant demand for traditional artists.

"A lot of people will want that human-created art, something that has been created without any effort or struggle gives pieces no value."

He said AI was a technology that artists and designers will have to eventually become adjusted to, adding it to their toolbox.

He believed it would not severely impact an artist's job as businesses will still prefer to communicate their needs directly to a person.

While AI could put some jobs at risk, it could also create work.

AUT associate head of research Angelique Nairn said AI will change the production of creativity but will create other opportunities.

"AI still requires there to be human input, people have to be working those systems to create anything.

"You'll find it will create jobs around prompt engineering, the coding practices and how it all comes together," Nairn said.

Creators will be able to pass off more mundane work to AI softwares, freeing up more time for their work, she said.

Recent research conducted by Nairn found participants were still apprehensive to put trust into a machine, valuing and trusting their own skills more.

"There was alot of interest, but what we saw was defensiveness, people still trust themselves more than they could possibly trust a machine," she said.

AI-generated imagery created a stir in the creative community earlier this year in March.

A black and white image of an older woman hugging a younger woman won the Sony World Photography Awards.

However the artist, Boris Eldagsen, turned down the award, revealing it to be created through DALL-E2 software.

He applied in a bid to challenge the competitions preparation on AI imagery.