AI – A threat to art? A commentary by Otto Frühwach

For some time now, freely accessible and largely free AI programs have been on the market that generate images using voice commands, à la The Little Prince: "Draw me a sheep!" .

The debate about the extent to which art and artists are threatened by AI is in full swing. Many already fear the artistic decline of Western civilization.

Is everyone an artist now?

Now even the least artistically ambitious and most untalented can create images that, in the days of AI, would have been considered to have "talent." But we quickly tire of these images and pictures, and they no longer impress anyone.

It takes an artist to create a work of art with AI! Therefore, the artist who paints or draws doesn't need to worry about AI.

Danger to applied art

The situation is different in applied arts and graphic design. In this field, the jobs and income sources of those working in these areas are threatened by AI just as farriers, saddlers, horse trainers, and jockeys were a hundred years ago by the invention of the automobile. But coachmen became chauffeurs and stable boys became mechanics, which is why there's no need to panic here either.

Large companies will likely reduce their graphic design departments, for example, from three employees to one, who will then handle everything with the help of AI. But the boss of a small company isn't going to task the warehouse worker or the cleaning staff with designing flyers using AI. Instead, they will continue to hire freelancers. These freelancers can complete the job with the help of AI tools and, freed from the tedious part of the work, can dedicate more time to the creative aspects.

Intellectual property theft

Regarding the misappropriation of others' intellectual property, artists throughout history have done so, drawing inspiration . Since AI programs are trained on images created by artists, I believe compensation is absolutely essential. This could be implemented quite simply, for example, by allocating a certain percentage of the AI ​​companies' revenue to VG Wort or VG Bild-Kunst .

When countless artists today create abstract paintings in the style of Gerhard Richter, are they infringing on his intellectual property? These paintings are often in no way inferior to Richter's in terms of quality, and some, in my opinion, even surpass his works in terms of their value to the viewer. Nevertheless, such a painting is not a "Richter," and few are willing to pay even a fraction of the price of a Richter painting for one.

AI art can only exist in print

Despite all the criticism, let's not forget that all images created using AI only become tangible through printing. They are neither drawn nor painted with oil or acrylics, and therefore not accessible to the senses. Even if future printing processes were to enable impasto printing with oil or acrylic paints, which will likely happen within the next decade, even a layperson will be able to distinguish such images from hand-painted ones. Just as one can easily differentiate offset printing from screen printing or lithography with a magnifying glass.

The appeal of a unique painted or drawn artwork will never be replaced by AI.”

Democratization of artistic creation through AI

Just as the internet has democratized the art market and made it accessible to art enthusiasts and artists, AI is democratizing artistic creation .

What do I mean by that? Everyone has the need to create something, but only a few possess the talent or physical ability to do so. AI allows people who, due to physical limitations, couldn't even wield a brush or pencil to visualize the images in their minds through voice commands. With AI, everyone now has the opportunity to create an appealing image and enjoy the process.

You can have this printed and hang it on the wall without having to go to the home decor section of the hardware store. The equivalent of this is the billions of vacation photos taken. Even if the quality is miles away from that of a skilled photographer, people have a particularly successful one printed and hang it up because it's "their own" photo. Image generation by AI tools therefore also has a social and inclusive function.

In my estimation, a painter or illustrator therefore has no need to worry that their art is threatened by AI. And, let's not forget, even before AI, hardly any artist could live solely from their art

Problems for photographers

The situation is different in photography. Here, landscape and nature photographers in particular are forced to elevate their art to a higher level and further develop their own distinctive style, as high-quality AI-generated "photographs" . However, photographers working primarily in an artistic capacity can even benefit from AI tools.

Furthermore, like AI art, photography also needs to be "printed" in some form, because art enthusiasts can't do anything with the file in a digital camera. And even the negative of an analog photographer has to be exposed and enlarged to find a place on the wall as a picture.

"Anyone can create AI art!"

When asked what she thought of the Beatles, my grandmother replied: "That's not art, anyone can do that, the electricity is making the music .

The way artworks created wholly or partially with AI reminds me a little of what my grandmother said.

“Anyone can create AI images! It's done at the push of a button! You don't need any talent for it! It's not art !”

Believing that no effort or time goes into an image generated with or exclusively by AI is a fallacy. Many abstract paintings in oil or acrylic can be completed in half an hour, while it can take an entire night to create a high-quality AI-generated image. Besides, "effort" or "time" are not criteria for art.

I am convinced that hardly any of the important painters of the 20th century would have forgone the artistic possibilities offered by AI if this option had existed during their creative period. However, I also understand that contemporary painters and parts of the art world feel threatened and challenged by the possibilities that AI offers. They then deny such works the right to be art.

This painting of mine, titled "Assimilation," is, for example, a blend of hand-painted acrylics and AI-assisted image generation. It explores the question of where integration ends and assimilation begins.

Analog and digital

I love painting with inks, oils, acrylics, and other paints. On canvas, wood, and all sorts of other materials. Using brushes, palette knives, and other tools, I create artworks from every imaginable material. However, I don't limit myself to using digital tools and integrating them into my art. And it's precisely this combination of digital and analog techniques and processes that I find particularly appealing and interesting.

My conclusion: AI is simply another tool available to artists.

Otto Frühwach

Otto Frühwach was born in Munich in 1960. Artistically active in his youth, he worked independently and as an entrepreneur in various cultural and economic sectors until the age of sixty, though his heart remained firmly planted in the realm of art. Since turning sixty, he has placed active artistic creation at the center of his life, working with a wide variety of techniques and materials to create his paintings. His work is diverse, transcending genres and styles.

“I view art initially as a world tour, which I have embarked on using a wide variety of means of transport. I am open to everything. Afterwards, I will decide where I will settle down.”

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