How Scary is AI Art?

Stay tuned! Season 2 recorded live at BCON LA drops in July.

In this episode our own Kent Trammell along with Dr. Jon Denning, Kyle Unziker and Tim Von Rueden answer the question: Are artists really losing jobs because of AI?

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[jaytsosie]

as an artist i do not want my art to be training data

[chopsuey]

Even for a hobby AI is problematic. Nobody creates artistic things just for themselves, even people who don't share their work are afraid of being judged and are shy but secretly have in mind the idea that their work will be recognised at its true value and that they will be seen as talented people. Those who think the opposite and that creation has nothing to do with ego have a problem of honesty with themselves. Recognition for one's work is a huge motivating factor for anyone who has ever created something in their life. Ai takes all that away from us. What's the point of sacrificing years of your life to master certain tools and spend hours on a piece of work when all you have to do is write a text? What's the point of doing all that when the people who see your creation will think you just used an AI? Our creations lose their value because anyone can easily recreate them, it's the rarity and the exceptional aspect that brings value to something. AI can create abundant and unlimited digital works very easily. If we could create gold as easily as we make a sandwich, then gold would have no value in our world.

[LuigiDOTexe]

I'm surprised the energy concerns with AI weren't mentioned. The sheer VOLUME of energy generative AI uses is absolutely unsustainable, and it's not worth pouring gasoline on the planet to generate a funny image that was only created by stealing from countless artists.

[matthewharrison]

Art as an abstract and commercial artistic work are two different areas and will be impacted differently. There'll always be a need for self expression and people will do what they always have, express themselves with all the tools around them in new and creative ways, exploring new tech and revelling in older methods. Commercial art will also do what it always has. Create a product for the lowest cost.

[devran]

I think Tim said the most real thing in the podcast.. the rest just keep dreaming I think. Tim was closer to my thoughts

[winxpusr]

I don't think AI companies have fair use protections to train their models on all the copyrighted art available on the internet.

That by itself is a matter of unfair trade practices.

[SouvikKarmakar]

Main problem is those large corporate while they are minority they will only see short term profit that will hurt us where we are majority. They will hurt system earn money and go and we will suffer.
But I believe this will be a cycle. It will go bad then slowly it will recover.

[j_shelby_damnwird]

TBH Art is the least concerning use case of "artificial intelligence".

[VincetheEditor]

All we have left is each other, and all that's left to do is create.





This basic principle is what gives us a reason or purpose outside of basic survival. If you are in a position where you won't starve and you begin to question your existence, if this basic principle is compromised, people lack a view of value in existence. A large number of suicides can be possibly attributed to a lack of purpose due to being purely a consumer. It is even worse when not only do you lack the fulfillment of creation but you are also alone. It is incredibly dark, but it is in our human nature to continue to create and share. The issue isn't human nature. This is a societal issue that will lead to much larger issues than people believe. Art is only one means of creation and it is not going anywhere. People will continue to make art. The problem derives from companies and studios that will use AI to cut costs purely through monetary motives. I personally do not see value in consuming AI-generated content. I prefer to connect with people through art, storytelling, and the human experience. However, I don't use social media. Whenever I do open social media and see what people spend hours consuming, I can tell most people won't care what they watch as long as it keeps their brains quiet long enough for them to silence their own thoughts. This damage will only extrapolate further with AI being able to make the production of content even cheaper than it already is. I sometimes hope people will one day just decide it's time to stop and reconnect but with how addictive everything has been designed to encourage consumption, I have a hard time believing. We are so fucking lonely thanks to the tools we ironically use to connect. It's so empty and soulless already, I can't imagine it any worse. I don't doubt psychologists are worried. I love technology, I love art, I love stories, I love people. Please take care of your mental health and make good decisions. What you consume, create, and who you share your time with defines who you are.

[Newsystuffs]

If there's one thing I'm learning these days, it's that AI in and of itself isn't inherently awful. It's like how everyone keeps complaining that CGI is overtaking puppets or 2D animation -- It's a tool to be used. It's HOW you use it that's the problem.

I'm going to animation classes that stress that AI should be used to get inspiration, but nothing more. And it really irks me when people just use AI as a full on replacement for art because they're too lazy to actually make something that isn't just text implementation (and yes, I am aware that typing shit down also takes effort, that that only applies to things like long comments ala this, not AI prompts). And it's very much a scourge on sites like Instagram, Pintrest and the Internet's favorite punching bag, deviantArt. Even AI made shitposts have less effort put into them than regular shitposts.

Way I see it, AI should only be used to assist in productions where it's not feesable to use manpower (repetitive tasks, mostly), not as the end-all, be-all like some people WANT it to be or fear it will be.

[steve]

I'll be happy when Ai can import my fusion 360 model with a game optimized topology and when AI can texture and bake my game model

[Гай-сй]

I haven't watched it yet and I answer the title of the video: It's not scary at all. I like to draw and drink lemonade, regardless of whether there is a machine in the world that does it better than me.

[emilthomas]

Will ai replace skills like blender or 3d modelling, vfx?

[joshuaborner]

We simply cannot build bigger and bigger AI models in any economically viable way. Generative imagery has been stagnant for a while, and video and 3D will also hit a cap. I used to think AI would be my demise, but it’s looking less scary now.

[anonymouse]

3D artists to AI art is like craftsmen to mass manufacturing. A handmade chair costs $300 but most people will buy a $20 IKEA chair. Your skills will soon be in low demand. Better get used to mass manufacturing.

[Panboyk]

Did carpenters disappear when IKEA got big.. no they were all ready gone mass production of cheep furniture killed carpentry as a trade nearly 100 years ago. if you look at the modern carpentry half of it is strange you tube created furniture that's more resin than wood, the hand crafted cabinets of the 1800s no longer exist, and its sad, and people fear AI is doing the same thing to ART

[swle]

If not for AI I would have never gotten into Blender and virtual production.

[AlexSmith-oqnf]

I like using AI to give me concepts for my art. We can either embrace it and evolve or get left behind

[WannabeMarysue]

I'm more scared of the copyright maximalism future those opposed to AI advocate for. We already see creativity so stifled by copyright law. Music sampling laws didnt help musicians, and transferred power upwards to corperations. Laws against AI training could only transfer power upwards to corperations.

I do think labour organising and solidarity is going to fight against exploitation more than copyright maximalism will.

As an aside, Glaze already doesn't work lol.

[SparkyD]

AI image generators can now make hands correctly, and control nets in ComfyUI can fix hands, its not an issue any longer.

AI is a tool. Just like when calculators replaced humans who used to have jobs doing simple equations.

The art world should stop the freakout and embrace the power.