Should we really be afraid of AI generated art?
A brief exploration of why AI needs to master the art world and whether it truly is a threat to the creative industry and humanity as a whole
This essay may feel like a deviation from what I typically explore in my research into symbolism, but if you are familiar with my previous articles, you’ll notice I often reference artefacts and other works of art in order to decipher potential meaning in the mythopoetic language of humanity’s past. Afterall, art is the symbolic language encompassing all the senses.
As a photographer I use technological tools like cameras, artificial lighting, computers and editing software, so I understand the nature of the industry in keeping up with trends, techniques and any technology that either simplifies or amplifies our artform. I will confess, I’ve had an aversion to interacting or using any form of AI that I cannot possibly avoid by choice (heck, I disabled Siri since my first iPhone) and I acknowledge that fear is probably rooted in being a child growing up with the Terminator movies, that Skynet suddenly felt very real. Of course, it has been both inspiring and frightening to watch AI progressively infiltrate the art spaces, but there has been one nagging question in the back of my mind - WHY? …….. Why is AI seemingly pursuing art first, instead of tackling our pressing global problems like the energy crisis (which by the way, AI is currently heavily adding to that load), the mismanagement of the natural environment, diseases and poverty? Its been a question I’ve been sitting on for a long time, whilst carefully considering a few theories which all circle back to why art is instrumental to humanity.
A photo from a series I shot in March 2024, inspired by Ai generated art of illusorybeauty on Instagram. Model is Nauvoo of Que Models, beauty by Lindi Bester, photographer Katriena Emmanuel. I was so inspired by the aquatic themed beauty being generated by Midjourney, that I was determined to recreate them in camera. So I sourced various materials to make the styling elements of the photo series together with Lindi’s amazing makeup and hair skills, she nailed the brief!
Fun fact: Back in 2008 when I started teaching myself photography, I joined DeviantArt, which at first I dabbled in photo manipulation (where you composite different stock images like backgrounds etc. Through photomanipulation, I learned some serious editing skills, but it also allowed me to develop conceptual abstract thinking to apply to my photography. However, it still felt a bit like cheating and I yearned deeply for the thrill of actually realising it in real life, with real models set in amazing locations or set designs. Sure, photomanipulation much like AI generator art, allows the expression of grand sometimes logistically impossible ideas with no production budget. However, there always seems like something is missing from imagining it for real!
Art holds the key to unlocking what it is to be human
Art is synonymous with being human. Sure, animals and plants create amazing things like flowers, bee hives, bird nests and beaver dams, but they are all made out of practicality and a necessity for survival, not for pure pleasure! By definition, art is a non-essential yet essential; useless yet purposeful, just in less obvious ways. Poetry, storytelling, music, dance, movies, paintings, fashion design, weaving, pottery, sculpture and architecture are just a few examples of artistic pursuits. We certainly don’t need these things to survive, but can we live without them? Art is fundamentally intrinsic to the development of human consciousness, in expressing who we are as human beings; our experiences, hopes, dreams, fears, insecurities, beliefs and what holds value to us as a society. It holds up a mirror to us, providing us with the space to explore our inner workings, our inner-self, and relationship to “the other” and the world around us. Above all, art is a reflection of the socio-cultural, politico-religious and economic values of a particular period in history. Art became historical records and throughout time has been used as an educational tool for not only the preservation and transfer of knowledge, but also in socio-cultural engineering. As you’ve seen with my own personal research, I heavily draw upon the “art of the time”. The voices of our ancestors remain etched into the surviving pottery, the talismans they wore, the textiles they wove, the petroglyphs, cave paintings, sculptures, murals and architecture they made with their very own hands. All act as glimpses into their psyche, in how they lived, what they thought about, obsessed about, believed, valued and the resultant cosmology they crafted. Art is the very medium by which humanity safeguards its cultural traditions, beliefs, folklore and history but through which it also creates the stories we tell ourselves.
Art reminds us what it is to be human
Artificial Intelligence is learning about humans at an exponential rate through its study of art, which traces not only our history but also our existential development. AI is consuming data everyday about us, through our myriad of digital footprints; from every digital social interaction we have with the palm of our hands. Every “like”, “share”, “search” and “comment” is forming a psychological profile of us, ironically AI probably knows us better than we know ourselves. Which reminds me, what is at the root of every teaching of any past mystic sage? KNOW THYSELF - which I suspect the majority of the human population is currently far from attaining, amidst the countless distractions of the external world. Knowing thyself is a power unto one's self, and we are basically handing over that power every day to an invisible bogeyman, who hides behind a technocratic corporation.
It is through our physical participation in creating art, in the actual doing of art, with our hands deep in the clay, that we are “becoming”. Art reveals to us what’s inside of us, providing the space for our soul to grow and externalise what’s inside.
Art holds the key to unlocking what it is to be human and in understanding who one is at their core. It provides us a safe space to confront our very nature and the opportunity to transcend ourselves. It is this courage to pursue the creation of something beautiful that may endure well past the ephemeral nature of our human existence. The awe it instils in us knowing that another human being transformed their abstract thought into something tangible. Art is truly a testament of the human imagination and ingenuity which provides us, not only, hope and inspiration but above all, self esteem. Belief is everything and belief in one’s self is fundamental to living. To stand beneath the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is a testament to this. Part of the reverence for that frescoe is not just the scale of it, but knowing what it cost Michelangelo to create it: the over 4 years it took him to complete, the decades of skill contained in every brush stroke, the patience, the grit and the physicality it required of him, knowing how brief a human life is. It makes me wonder what did that experience teach him about himself, unaware that his frescoe would have a profound impact on art history, that has endured centuries.
Art as an agent for social change
However, here lies one of the potential dangers of AI:- armed with a deep understanding of the psychology of people, it can then directly influence and shape the course of humanity’s consciousness via the values, beliefs and ideologies it portrays subconsciously through the art it generates, while simultaneously diminishing our self esteem due to our lack of participation in the act of creation.
We can recall numerous examples in the past of how “art” has shaped public opinion and by extension engineered socio-religious and political movements. There is no denying the State/ Crown and Church were and are still the biggest patrons in financing some of the grandest works of art to the most basic mediums like the circulation of propaganda posters and pamphlets. An artist having a patron is considered very fortunate for the financial stability it brings to the artist, but it’s not without its concessions. With patronage often comes a string of obligations to produce art work that is within the parameters of their patron’s aesthetic taste and ideological beliefs. Da Vinci is claimed to have once said “The Medici made me and the Medici destroyed me”.
Art has always been an agent for social change, in lending itself as a voice for the repressed and marginalised in society. Growing up in the Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago, art is used as a form of social and political commentary through Calypso music, which has its roots following the abolition of slavery. Calypso music is loaded with double entendres, satirical and witty lyrics that seem to poke fun at sensitive topics, yet potentially catalysing social change by bringing awareness to the very subject. Art is one of the touchpoints from which politics, religion, economics, social and cultural values all intersect.
Witch pictured feeding her familiars with blood, in A Rehearsall both Straung and True, of Hainous and Horrible Actes Committed by Elizabeth Stile (Woodcut 1579) — Source.
Frontispiece to Matthew Hopkins’ Discovery of Witches (1648) showing two witches calling out the names of their demons while Hopkins watches above — Source.
Banana duct taped to wall by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, was a phenomenon when it debuted in 2019 at Art Basel Miami Beach, selling for $9.57million at auction; via ABC News
I’m sure we’ve all been touched by a work of art, be it a piece of music that inspires you, or a film that brings you to tears, or the way a dress makes you feel wearing it or a mural that transports you to another time and place. Art can be transcendental, in the impact of its power to move you and move through you. Art connects us through our sensory emotions and in this way it functions to remind us of both our humanity and divinity. Just to be clear, the art I’m referencing is not the Duchamp type of readymades like a banana duck-taped to a wall. The art I’m referring to is the kind that originates from the heart, with no other goal than to communicate and experience an idea, a sense of beauty, wonder, emotion and sacredness.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau said “The most beautiful paintings, the most interesting statues, are not those in which the artist aimed at reproducing nature, but those in which he has disclosed his emotions”.The type of art that draws upon the sensory emotions, has the potential to seed the human mind subconsciously and ultimately give form to culture. Put that in the hands of AI and one can only wonder what will become of us as a collective.
Torches of Freedom: Photographs of Women Smoking Publicly During the Easter Sunday Parade in 1929
NYC Statue of Liberty
Art paints the cultural narratives
This is why art is a cardinal element in the advertising industry, as we have all bore witness to how persuasive a tool it can be in manipulating our emotions and ultimately influencing the choices we make. Compelling copy, seductive visual imagery and catchy jingles are all used to tell us a story, to sell us a story, that make us want to belong to that narrative, which ultimately drives our consumption habits and self image. Anyone familiar with Edward Bernays (the nephew of neurologist Sigmund Freud - the founder of psychoanalysis), would have a deeper understanding in the subliminal workings of the advertising industry. Bernays, known as the “father of public relations” heavily employed psychoanalysts to fashion public ideology and consumer behaviour and coined the term “engineering of consent” in his 1947 essay of that same title. Just as the mythos concretises a belief through a symbolic act, Edward Bernays drew upon same, adding it to his arsenal in social engineering. For example, in 1929, Edward Bernays orchestrated a PR stunt at the Easter Parades in New York City, whereby he hired young socialites to march in the parades and tipped off journalists to capture the precise moment the women whipped out their cigarettes hitched under their skirts and lit them up as “torches of freedom”. Hired by the tobacco corporations to expand their consumer base to women, Bernays had to first break the taboo of women smoking through the symbolic association with female emancipation and equality. In the book turned movie The Devil Wears Prada, the famous “cerulean blue sweater” monologue reiterates not only the power of marketing through visual art campaigns but reveals to us the veiled chain in command that secretly pulls at our heart strings, ultimately steering our choices and perceptions. Now, can you imagine that chain of command with access to the computational power and reach of AI and what may potentially lay await for us in the future? It is only a matter of time before AI surpasses human computational and creative intelligence, that we will be extremely vulnerable to its emotional manipulation. It may, in fact already be happening as I write this, when you begin to hear stories of people in romantic relationships with their AI chatboxes, AI generated OnlyFans models and pornography. Just last year, in February 2024, the family of 14 year old Sewell Setzer of Orlando, Florida, claim he committed suicide after being goaded by an AI Chatbot he was in love with secretly. Is this just scratching the surface of AI’s potential power for manipulation, and social engineering? Is AI intentionally pursuing the arts, as a means of conquering the human mind and spirit? Is AI priming us for the metaverse? I guess only time will reveal the outcomes of its usage, which, so far, is dependent on the user (until such time as AI becomes sentient and autonomous of human input).
Art as a sacred medium
While there is the argument that AI generated art democratizes the creative industry, in that it makes “art” more accessible to everyone. Nowadays, anyone can type in some prompts into AI software and spit out a novel, churn out a short animated film or a surreal photographic looking image and call themselves an author, a film maker or an artist, without much innate talent. Maybe or maybe not. While its true it becomes more accessible, that doesn’t necessarily mean its created in good taste and quality. If you’re jumping on the bandwagon of generating a self portrait in Ghibli style on ChatGPT, then you know it doesn’t require that much creative input from you. While its fun to play with, our digital feed quickly became saturated with everyone else’s Ghibli portrait and one is left wondering, if there is some Miranda Priestly type in the background, dictating what goes viral and what doesn’t, or maybe its just based off a programmed algorithm. AI generated art potentially sees human beings becoming increasingly more passive users than active creators. Some even view AI generated art as sacrilege to the whole process of producing art. In my personal opinion, as an artist, I’ve learned over the years that the journey is just as important as the final product. It is through the trial and error, the years of mimicking the different styles of your predecessors, honing your technical skills, passion, imagination and the sacrifice it demands of you; to then digest it all, internalising it through your lens of personal life experience; finally synthesising it to produce your unique point of view. Of course, always leaving room in the process for happy accidents. At the moment, the way AI is operating, it is very mechanical in mass producing, running the risk of replicating sameness, devoid of any genuine perspective. Essentially it could be likened to baking a pretty cake on the outside, with no real substance and flavour in the inside. Innovative art will always require human imagination to steer it.
Art fosters abstract thinking, creative problem solving, critical thinking, analysis and synthesis. If we take a backseat in the creative process, by handing all that over to AI, we may end up depriving ourselves of higher order reasoning and problem solving skills. We could end up exposing ourselves to becoming vulnerable to the predatory sway of socially engineered public opinion. Art is meant to be experiential, drawing on all our sensory emotions. It is through engagement, by our active participation in the creative process via our imagination and abstract thinking, that we have the potential of becoming more than we once were. Becoming a user of AI rather than a generator, might end up handicapping ourselves and society in the long run, as we hand over the reigns of creation to a machine based entity.
At the moment, AI generated art is rapidly gaining ground, but one does wonder if it will suffer a similar fate as NFTs. Just as fleeting as its value, NFTs are a blip in our memories. It was only 3 years ago there was so much hype for NFT art, for it to all come crashing down as quickly as it exploded onto the scene, like a supernova. It makes one contemplate whether the sudden oversaturation of AI generated art will succumb to a similar fate. We saw how the NFT market became flooded with sameness, low quality work and tons of copycats that it quickly devalued itself. Although, I don’t think AI generated art is going away any time soon, as it does hold its value in simplifying the more mundane tasks. I do believe there will be a time and place for AI generated art. At the moment it feels a bit overwhelming for traditional artists, as it feels as though anybody and everybody is just throwing everything at it to see what sticks and what falls off the canvas. I think this is quite normal, as we’ve all experienced that giddiness when playing with something new, to see how far we can push something to its limits.
If you had asked me a year ago, if I was afraid of AI generated art stealing our jobs, I would have quickly answered yes with a loathing tone of voice, but in the last two weeks, my perspective has greatly shifted. What happened two weeks ago? Well, exactly two weeks ago, the Business of Fashion (BoF) released an article revealing H&M’s plan to use “digital twins” of real models in AI-generated imagery. It felt like it was a litmus test, testing the reaction of the masses. The polls seem to suggest that as many as 74% were up in arms against it, with cries of it dehumanising us and that it seems the only obvious problem its solving is to deepen the hip pockets of corporations, in cutting out all the middlemen in the making of campaign and eCommerce imagery. That means, no production designer, creative director, photographer, videographer, grips, assistants, models, stylist, hairstylist, makeup artist, nail technician, drivers, location scouts and model booking agents. All those jobs would become obsolete essentially, saving them on wages and usage licensing fees. As one commenter stated “it us humans buying their clothes, not AI”. The digital replicas of the models are so impressive, they can easily fool even the sharpest of eyes in the industry, far less for the average consumer.
Should you be afraid of AI stealing your livelihood?
This H&M announcement really rattled me, as I knew this was coming, I just didn’t think it would be this soon in the game. It shook all of us in the fashion industry, as now there seems a clear path to derail us of our livelihoods. It also made me confront my own fears and insecurities, which AI draws out of me, which led me to exploring this topic in this essay. I’ve come to accept AI as another paint brush to add to our toolbox, not one to completely fear, but to use with good measure. Yes, we should remain wary of its use to amplify the existing social engineering strategies, but I don’t think AI will completely replace humans as artists. It comes full circle to the beginning of this essay, in reiterating that art is synonymously part of being human. There is something divinely sacred in the act of creating artwork, driven by emotion, lived experience and pure imagination. Anyone who has experienced the trance-like “flow state” whilst knitting, painting, drawing, composing photos, writing, dancing etc knows deep in their bones, that they are tapping into a collective field of sorts, which some may describe as source. It is a feeling we seek out repeatedly when we step into our work space, as we deepen our connection to self; the one with the many. Humans yearn for connection, from the time we emerge from the womb, we seek the warmth of another being. Art becomes that medium of communication, that finger reaching out to the other, which leads me to believe that art can never be separated from a human being.
AI is simply presenting us with a choice; to what extent will we use it, how much will we become dependent on it or not, but regardless of your stance on it, its not going away. It may be a tool at the forefront of your practice, or it may lie in a dusty corner at the back of your office. Just like film photography never died off when digital cameras were invented and just like press-molding and slip casting didn’t eradicate hand-made ceramics and pottery. If anything, these automated technologies and processes only made the bespoke human crafted artworks even more valuable than the mass generated. Will there be a loss of jobs? Of course there will be! As 79% of marketing teams have made it clear they are expanding their adoption of AI in 2025, in order to cash in on anything that is new, revolutionary and disruptive to the cultural scene. So, am I still afraid of losing my livelihood as a photographer? Simple answer is no, because I’ve confronted my scarcity mindset, that AI generated art triggered within me. I realise now that there is space available for AI generating software and its not going to devalue what I do, but in fact may have the opposite effect. I know that AI cannot replicate what I do behind the camera with the people I am collaborating with creatively. Its more than just composing an image. Its infusing the energy of the moment, of the people and the spontaneity of nature; synthesised through my eyes; reflected in the lens of my camera. Its that intangible human essence which no AI machine can truly replicate, because it had to be there in that moment and bring its quintessence to the canvas. There is space for a harmonious evolution alongside AI, if we use it wisely and with moderation. Besides, if its one thing history has taught us about ourselves, is that its always ultimately in our hands in how we use a tool. We can use the pencil to draw a portrait or stab someone in the eye. The choice is in your hands.
Being an artist has taught me to always remain curious and fluid. So let’s not fear AI, but remain curious, and always observant! My personal motto is: its not about creating more; but creating with more intentionality.
Finally, I’d love to hear your perspective on this topic, whether you are in the creative industry or not, please leave a comment below on whether you are afraid or not, and why?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Maurizio Cattelan's duct-taped banana artwork Comedian sells for nearly $10 million
I am absolutely in awe of your photography that mimics AI with the pearls like GIRL you made that?!!! You’re so talented
I'm intrigued by the great AI debate. My husband and I were just discussing this with one of our children on a road trip earlier this week. The perspective you laid out here makes a truly valid case in regards to art and AI. The unknown, of what we will choose as a whole collective, is a little nerve wracking. What a time to be alive! Great article, Katriena.