By Ian Wilson
Originally published in Legends and Songs: The Newsletter of Ian Wilson
I’ve had a lot to say about AI since open-source generative AI first appeared on the scene a few short years ago. I imagine I’ll have a lot more to say on the topic, given how it directly affects my field.
Since it appeared, I’ve found that people had two reactions to AI, ranging from apathy to utter disgust, but then there’s a third reaction I didn’t expect: raging enthusiasm. Yes, friends, there are people who actually want AI to succeed and to destroy human artists.
Why? Why this fervor to annihilate the most human of all pursuits? Simple answer: human artists can be pedantic, sanctimonious losers.
Not long ago, I got into an argument with one of these people, and he shared with me a meme that at first offended me. After a few minutes stewing in anger, I realized that there was a kernel of truth in the meme.
Yes, it’s rather silly, but there’s some truth to it, for sure. There’s a reason I don’t get along well with much of the artistic community. I’m not vegan, or gay, and I’m kind of a right-winger (if that terminology even applies to my political beliefs anymore). I just don’t get on well with these weirdos.
A big reason generative AI has become so popular is because artists have been trying to make and sell art that is ugly, stupid, shallow, and absurd. Art is supposed to lift the viewer up and give them a transcendent experience. Instead, we’re standing there scratching our heads at the weird thing before us, trying to figure out what the artist is attempting to say. And then the artists stand there with their smug superiority, thinking that no one understands their art because of patriarchy or colonialism or some such nonsense. Worse yet are the illustrators out there charging an arm and leg for mediocre art. No wonder people are turning to generative AI for their work.
So I can almost sympathize with those who are celebrating the advent of AI and the downfall of traditional arts to a point. We’ve become lazy, absurdist jerks who expect the world to just fall down at our feet because we’re “artists” and we’re “avant guarde”.
However, because this is me we’re talking about, I am going to take the middle road, the one marked with a large sign that says all of you are wrong in big, bold letters.
Modern artists are wrong for their narcissistic need for “self-expression”. No, art isn’t about you and your self-centered need to be recognized. It’s about connecting people together. It’s about drawing us out of ourselves and into the beauty around us. Modern art is more of rebellion against the very idea of beauty. Modern art has failed. It’s an insult to real art.
Ironically, AI art fanboys are wrong, for much the same reason. Art isn’t just about the end product of making an image. There’s more value in artistic work made by human hands because a human really understands what feeling he is trying to convey. AI cannot feel. It has never felt sad, angry, happy or fallen in love. It has never known the rich juices of red meat and stinging wine on its palate, the hot embrace of white arms, or the mad exultation of battle when the blue blades flame and crimson (to paraphrase R.E. Howard). And it seems to me, neither have AI fanboys. They are what C.S. Lewis would call “men without chests” who haven’t truly lived, and therefore could think that a computer could possibly have the ability to communicate such human experiences. And that is why real, flesh and blood human artists matter.
As one of my colleagues, Alexandru Constantin said:
The words on the page are “more special” because they are written by a human you nonce. The written word is about communication between humans, reading the regurgitated algorithm of software has no value.
Yes, the smug superiority of some artists is infuriating, but the AI fanboys seem to be fueled entirely by jealousy and resentment for people with real talent. Which is just as bad, maybe even worse. To take it into the political realm for just a moment, both approaches have a strong Marxist flavor which makes me very wary of them.
So how then can we defeat AI? To put it simply, make good art. Put away your smugness and narcissism and simply be a human. Feel. Do human things. Create art based on those feelings, that is transcendent, that draws you out of yourself and connects with your audience in a meaningful way.
LogoSophia Magazine 