Generative artificial intelligence (AI) - from the perspective of a graphic artist and painter

Artificial intelligence has been on the rise for some time now and is widely known. Generative AI creates digital content, such as images, texts, videos, or music. Anyone can use an AI program to create high-resolution images for free and use them freely. There is no copyright on these image files! Such images are now flooding the internet on a massive scale, appearing on websites, including art portals like Art Heroes or Artmajeur .

These images are offered for sale there, and the people doing so often call themselves artists, believing they created these works themselves. But that's not true, because AI art is not considered the work of a human creator, therefore there is no copyright on these images.

My first experience with AI art came in 2023 when I met someone on the art portal Artmajeur who offered AI art. I immediately tried it out myself, something that had previously been a mystery to me, using the program Nightcafé , which is available for free online. I was initially amazed at how fast it was and quickly learned how to use it. It soon became clear to me: it's incredibly easy. With a little know-how and the creative text prompts needed to create such an image, anyone can use it. The image tool of an AI program allows you to quickly generate countless images with simple commands, depending on the settings.

I had doubts about the whole thing right from the start. This is partly because, as a trained graphic designer, I learned everything manually during my studies; computers didn't exist back then. In 1993, I started with desktop publishing , which made my professional work much easier, but still required a lot of creativity, thought, and execution. Photoshop was also part of it. I worked just as hard for my painting, which I started in 2012.

Since 2022, generative AI a serious threat to all those creative professionals who have painstakingly learned their craft and earn their living through their intellectually stimulating work, such as graphic designers, illustrators, photographers, painters, and video artists. Generative AI can be helpful if used appropriately. However, it cannot be helpful if the end result is used in such a way that the aforementioned professions appear to become obsolete.

However, to create such AI-generated images using AI systems, the program must first be trained on a vast amount of external image material. The interdisciplinary study "Copyright & Training of Generative AI – Technological and Legal Foundations" revealed in 2024 that this infringes copyright.

As a closer look at the technology of generative AI models reveals, training such models is not a case of text and data mining. It constitutes copyright infringement – ​​and there is no valid exception for this under German and European copyright law“,

So said Prof. Dornis. And further:

This study is explosive because it proves that we are dealing with a large-scale theft of intellectual property.”

so says Hanna Möllers, legal advisor of the DJV (see urheber.info/diskurs/ki-training-ist-urheberrechtsverletzung )

The collecting society Bild-Kunst e.V. , of which I have been a member for about 20 years, demands compensation for its artists for the unauthorized use of their image files. In other words, financial compensation. GEMA demands compensation for the unauthorized use of music files. So it's already clear that the existing regulations are being undermined by AI-generated art.

EU AI Act (available online) has been in effect since August 2024. of generative AI systems . The AI ​​Act states the following:

Providers of AI systems, including general-purpose AI systems that generate synthetic audio, image, video, or text content, must ensure that the outputs of the AI ​​system are labeled in a machine-readable format and can be identified as artificially generated or manipulated. (...)

This is where the providers of generative AI tools come in. They must ensure that AI-generated content can be technically recognized. Are they doing so? So far, not yet, or only to a very limited extent. I offer my artwork as prints on the Art Heroes portal. Unfortunately, all AI-generated images on the portal are not yet labeled as such, meaning there is no distinction between non-AI art and AI-generated art.

A clear competitive disadvantage for all those who don't offer AI-generated images. AI-generated images have become popular and a mass phenomenon. Amateur artists create and offer countless image files without having invested much money or time. A painter often spends many hours on a unique piece, a photographer goes out to find their subjects or photographs in their studio, and an illustrator sketches ideas and develops them.

A hobbyist AI artist doesn't do any of these things, but profits from AI and its applications in a way that is fueled by illegal activities. And ultimately, it has nothing to do with photography, painting, or drawing anymore. Surely no true artist wants to trade their manual and intellectual skills for an AI program to get a result at the push of a button in seconds? Right? I certainly wouldn't. Only to try it out, to see how it works, or as a source of inspiration!

I'm not fundamentally against generative AI. What's crucial for me is how it's used. Unfortunately, there's a lot of misuse where artists are exploited using existing images (data mining), and these same artists no longer earn anything from their work because wannabe artists flood the internet with their creations by the thousands. I'm in favor of regulation, laws, and fairness.

Reasons why I criticize AI art:

1. I'm not at all satisfied with having an AI generate an image on my PC; it's downright boring for me. But yes, I've had my "flash" moments where I was amazed at what generative AI can do. However, it's also very buggy.
2. I want to be perceived as a true artist, not as someone who does what millions of others in the "housewife" sphere are now doing. Anyone who is willing can deal with that.
3. A significant risk is that the market will be flooded with AI-generated products, causing genuine human artwork to lose visibility, discoverability, and value. Additionally, generative AI could lead to the displacement of visual artists on key platforms.
4. The use of generative AI threatens job opportunities in creative and artistic professions as well as in art education. Due to the close interconnections between art production, art education, and the art market, the entire visual arts ecosystem is structurally endangered. I now stand in solidarity with all my colleagues (graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, painters) in the art world, whether independent or commercial, whose work is threatened by AI-generated art.
5. Copyrighted works by artists are being used as training data for generative AI models and applications. These artists receive no compensation.

I use AI programs for specific purposes that I consider quite sensible. For example, to quickly visualize layouts or ideas, but I do the actual implementation myself. That's the big difference between AI-generated wannabe artists and real artists: the execution. With the former, the computer does it at the push of a button; with the latter, it's a human being with ideas, thoughts, and soul. – However, I do see a difference in the partially generated image file; that's a middle ground. But I also get along very well without AI.

I participated in the study “ AI AND FINE ARTS: STUDY ON OPPORTUNITIES AND RISKS ” by the Copyright Initiative in 2024. The study explored the impact of AI-generated art on the art scene, the art market, and the entire fine arts ecosystem.

Worth reading results as a 90-page PDF: KF_Studie_KI_und_Bildende_Kunst.pdf

The hype is unstoppable, will subside, and unfortunately become the norm for art sales. However, much still needs to be regulated by legislation, as well as the implementation of the new rules. Crucially, this depends on how people interact with the AI ​​programs that create generative AI art , and unfortunately, I don't see any positive developments there. It has already become a cheap mass-produced commodity. Quantity over quality, soulless and devoid of human intellectual creation.

The term "art" comes from "skill". A work of art is created through the skill of a person, not through text commands that a computer processes uncontrollably.