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Technology | Arts
No Artist Required
March 9, 2023
Nik Popli for TIME, adapted by TFK editors
COURTESY AMMAAR RESHI
One day, Ammaar Reshi was playing around with a chatbot called ChatGPT.
A chatbot is a computer program that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to
imitate human thinking and writing. Reshi wondered if he could use the
program to produce a children’s book.
The idea for the book’s story came from a conversation Reshi had with the
chatbot, about a girl named Alice. He created illustrations using another AI
program, Midjourney, which translates words into images.
SMART ART These book illustrations were made by an AI program. The
book’s text was also produced using AI.
COURTESY AMMAAR RESHI
A couple of days later, Reshi had completed a 12-page book, Alice and
Sparkle. “Anyone can use these [AI] tools,” he told TIME. “[They’re] readily
accessible, and not hard to use.”
Not everyone was pleased. When Reshi posted about the book on Twitter, a
debate started. Some people praised him for his ingenuity. But artists were
critical. The problem, they said, was not just the poor quality of the artwork
(for instance, in one drawing, hands look like claws). It was the way the art
was made.
COURTESY AMMAAR RESHI
Midjourney searches through millions of images across the Internet. It uses
algorithms to find patterns in those images and create new ones. Think of
the artists who upload their work online. Midjourney could be using their
work without their permission.
“The main problem to me about AI is that it was trained off of artists’ work,”
illustrator Adriane Tsai says. “It’s our creations, our distinct styles . . . that
we did not consent to being used.”
For Art’s Sake
COURTESY AMMAAR RESHI
Many artists and writers are nervous about their future. Will people pay
them for their work if it can be done cheaper using AI?
Some companies are already choosing AI over human talent. The San
Francisco Ballet used images generated by Midjourney to promote its
production of The Nutcracker. At a comedy club, an AI- powered robot
delivered jokes.
“As somebody who makes my money and finds my joy in writing, it’s deeply
troubling to see people seeking cheap alternatives to actual human writing,”
journalist Abraham Josephine Riesman says.
Reshi says there should be protections for artists and authors whose work
might be used in AI algorithms. “There’s real concern,” he says. “It’s really
important that the tech industry that’s working on these tools involves
[artists] in the process of creation.”
