Prompts

I am stealing this idea from one of my friends; but today’s Short Opinion is that the process of creating AI Art has more in common with “commissioning a painting” than it does with “making art.”

I do have a friend who makes AI art and then paints the results onto canvas, which I think is a really cool thought experiment that’s pushing the boundaries of “what even is art?” — but even that is most similar to the exercise you do in art class, where you copy a famous painting someone did. I recently painted a copy of “Spore Flower,” by Margaret Organ-Kean. My friend with more artistic talent painted a copy of “View of Toledo” by El Greco when we were in high school. It’s a normal thing to do. But it’s not its own act of original creation. And that is perfectly okay. (Paint-and-sips also fall into this category! I love those.)

Another friend calls it “You’re not an artist; you’re asking the interns for spec work.” That feels a little harsh, as does this skeet. But…it’s not the same process as creating the art. It’s more like requirements documentation.