Potential and Dangers of AI in the Work of Artists
It’s Julia,
Today, I’d like to invite you to a lecture by Professor Leszek Żurek, who will explore the impact of artificial intelligence on the world of art, with a focus on photography. He will discuss the first experiences of artists with this tool, its potential, and the challenges it poses for creators. He will also address issues related to innovative technologies, ethics, and the future of creativity in the AI era. All discussed topics will be illustrated with specific examples to help better understand this subject.
Here are a few words about our lecturer: Leszek Żurek is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk and the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań in the field of photography. He conducts classes in photography and the psychophysiology of vision at the Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology in Gdańsk. He is the author of photographs for two album publications, “Paradissus Marie” and “Kościół Mariacki w Żukowie,” as well as photographs for several books and catalogs of the Museum of the City of Gdynia. For over twenty years, he has been professionally active as a commercial photographer. He is the creator of many individual exhibitions and a participant in group exhibitions. He is also a member of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers.
Hope I have your attention now, let’s go!
On this gloomy day in Gdańsk, I take you with me to the NOMUS Museum for the lecture by Professor Leszek Żurek. I’m happy to see that the lecture room is almost full, which is no surprise considering that AI-related topics are at the center of many heated discussions.
The presentation screen turns grey, and in a moment, we’ll be looking at two photographs: one by Louis Jacques Daguerre, the pioneer of photography, and the second one by the lecturer himself, generated within a few seconds with the help of AI tools. Both of them depict wide city streets with a single person somewhere in the background. Professor Żurek seems quite content with his little experiment, especially since, as he admitted, the command he used wasn’t complicated, and he was able to create a Daguerre-inspired photo in just a few seconds. Here comes the first big research question:
Do we witness the end of photography? Can anybody be a photographer now? – asks Żurek, recalling the 20th-century fear that photography would bring an end to the painting era and that not very talented painters would become photographers.
In 2022, we saw the rise of AI programs that revolutionized the way we think about art. One of the most well-known is DALL-E, whose name combines the famous surrealist painter Salvador Dali and Wall-E, a cute robot from Pixar animations – explains the professor before delving into some case studies.
The anecdote starts: When I was on holiday, a journalist called and asked me what I thought about Boris Eldagsen winning a prestigious photography award with an AI-generated photo. Well, I was more amused than scared. Eldagsen refused his award but caused a bit of a scandal.
Now, the professor will present us with more works by the now-famous and controversial Eldagsen. Do you like it? – he turns to the audience. I think he wouldn’t be able to achieve these kinds of effects in the photographic studio. We nod obediently. Eldagsen’s works are truly amazing.
It’s not a surprise to me that AI-generated photos are now being sold for millions of dollars; they really are worth it because they are groundbreaking – comments the professor.
You must remember that Eldagsen wasn’t the first to cause a scandal in the world of photography – before the AI era, Photoshop usage was notorious. The problem of authenticity has always been there, continues Żurek.
I can see that our lecturer is rather optimistic when it comes to AI-generated content. He doesn’t seem to share the fears that AI may cut off millions of jobs, especially in the creative sector. When asked about it, he laughs and answers: Well, to be honest, there haven’t been many vacancies for photographers anyway… I’m the one who encourages my students to experiment with AI tools, and they are more hesitant than I am!
After Eldagsen, we move on to the works of Anja Engelke, an AI artist whose “Falling Soldiers” were inspired by famous war photography by Robert Capa (who was also accused of manipulating the content of his photographs). The second artist that Engelke draws inspiration from is Alec Soth – the professor juxtaposes Engelke’s AI photo and the original one. At first, it’s really hard to spot which one isn’t real. Our eyes fool us, and the lonely men holding bouquets look very similar. The prompts used by Engelke to create the AI photo were actually generated by artificial intelligence, describing Soth’s creative works – explains the professor. We are all baffled and immediately start to ask questions about copyrights.
At this point – starts the professor – I don’t think we have to consider AI art in terms of copyrights. The pictures and ideas AI tools use were already circulating for a long time, they’ve been modified many times, and it’s now impossible to differentiate between the original author and the interpreter. I think we can all agree that we all have copyrights when it comes to AI-generated content.
His words spark a heated discussion. We can hear voices from teachers and students asking about the percentage of “inspiration.” It may be plagiarism! I hear from the audience. I use AI on a daily basis – it significantly shortens my artistic process and leaves me with more energy for creative tasks! – opposes a visual artist from the first row. I think that AI is a great phenomenon, as long as we know how to use it ethically – says someone from the back.
The only thing I’m afraid of is historical mystification… starts Żurek and shows us 100% AI-generated photos of Native Americans. It’s impossible to tell that the people in the pictures have never existed. I think it poses significant threats to the ways we learn and talk about history – he continues.
The hour has passed in the blink of an eye, so the professor speeds up a little. He shows us works by Craig Amens, Ed Ruscha, and Steve Lease that serve as additional case studies. For a moment, we move on to Matt Calishaw’s work, who uses AI more creatively – he creates paintings based on AI-generated content. The effects are impressive: exuberant bouquets, burning flowers, still lifes.
We conclude the lecture with another exchange in which proponents and opponents of artificial intelligence argue. As the arguments start to become biased and shallow, I will choose to put a full stop. The interlocutors lack theoretical knowledge (if only about the phenomenon of technological bias), so we do not come to any new conclusions.
And now I have a little riddle for you, readers! Below are the five images discussed during the lecture. Only two of them were not generated by AI. Are you able to identify them? Let me know what you think in the comments:
Photo sources:
https://www.eldagsen.com/pseudomnesia/
http://anja-engelkede.squarespace.com/concepts
https://www.bethanien.de/en/exhibitions/anja-engelke/
https://gagosian.com/quarterly/2023/05/01/essay-a-wild-wild-wind-bennett-millers-ai-generated-art/
Hi Julia,
This was a great read on such a relevant topic and really gave me a lot to think about…particularly the discussion about how AI challenges our ideas of authenticity and copyright. As for the riddle, I’m the most certain that picture 4 is AI-generated, there is just something non-human about it that I can’t quite put my finger on, and if I had to guess non-AI ones, I would go with 3 and 5. It’s both fascinating and unsettling, and I can only imagine how much harder it will be to tell the difference in the future and all the challenges that will come with it…