An Evolving Partnership
The role of humans in the creative process when working with AI in digital art and media
AI has come a long way in recent years, and its capabilities are becoming increasingly impressive. One area where AI is making a significant impact is in the creation of digital art and media.
From generating new images, animations, and music to enhancing or manipulating existing works, AI is rapidly changing the art world.
Challenges of Working with AI in the Creative Process
However, working with AI in the creative process isn’t without its challenges. For one, it can be hard to predict the outcome of AI-generated art. Algorithms can be complex, and the results can be difficult to interpret. Additionally, there are ethical concerns surrounding originality and authorship when it comes to AI-generated art.
These concerns center around questions such as:
- Is it truly original if it’s created by an algorithm?
- Who should be credited as the author of the work — the human who programmed the algorithm, or the algorithm itself?
- What about the ethical concerns around taking an artist’s creative property and original art to make the algorithm smarter?
Benefits of Working with AI in the Creative Process
Despite these challenges, there are many benefits to working with AI in the creative process. For example, AI can save time by automating repetitive tasks, allowing artists to focus on more creative endeavors. It can also provide access to new forms of creativity that would be impossible for humans to achieve on their own.
By using AI to generate new forms and variations of art, humans can explore new creative directions and possibilities.
There are no bounds on where AI can take you. With AI, you no longer have to wait weeks to months to see how a potential idea might play out–now, it’s created almost instantly. AI allows creators to work much faster in testing potential creative iterations, which saves time in the long run.
For example, in my recent work with Zaha Hadid Architects, we worked with diffusion models, iterating hundreds of projects in a mere couple of days, which would have otherwise taken weeks to months.
To me, the biggest benefit of AI is you can take a seed of an idea and run with it. There are no roadblocks.
Let’s say you have an idea for a futuristic spaceship, but you don’t know what might be possible or what it might look like. With AI, you can look into the future and chase the idea quicker. It accelerates your creative process, funneling iterations down to the final product much faster.
In addition to speeding up ideation, as I experienced with the Zaha Hadid project, AI is super helpful for narrowing designs to understand the costs associated with building a certain prototype early on.
Role of Humans in the Creative Process with AI
So, where does that leave the role of humans in the creative process when working with AI? Humans act as guides and directors for the AI, interpreting and understanding its output. They provide context and meaning to AI-generated art, and ultimately, make the final decision on what pieces to release or exhibit. Furthermore, AI can be used as inspiration for human artists, providing new opportunities for creative thinking and experimentation.
An AI artist I admire is Claire Silver. She collaborates with AI to produce art that is transcendental. She’s used AI as a tool, rather than a threat, and that makes her an extremely savvy artist, recognizing AI as something to help realize her visions rather than limit them.
In my mind, humans are the pilots of AI. None of the machine models can be creative by themselves. Real true creativity is coming from humans. AI is just assisting people to illustrate and create in a more streamlined way.
Think of it this way: instead of a physical paintbrush as our tool, we now have AI to help us manifest our creative imaginings.
Personal Experience
One project I worked on recently was “Unsupervised” by Refik Anadol. This piece of artwork uses the MoMA’s archive and real-time data to create an immersive and interactive experience that pushes the boundaries between art and technology.
Working on this project was a challenging and exciting experience. It required innovations in machine learning, hardware and software engineering, and digital art.
Having the MoMA showcase this type of art was a turning point in our modern society. AI-generated art is still controversial since it is perceived to be created by a computer rather than a human. While we know that is not the case, and humans are an important part of the process, having the MoMA–a cultural icon for historic art pieces–accept this as true art is a huge step.
MoMA is validating AI-generated art as a legitimate art form.
Future of AI in the Creative Arts
Looking ahead, as AI continues to advance, we can expect to see even more sophisticated AI-generated art and media.
I predict that in the very near future, we will no longer be able to tell what was created by a human and what was created by AI.
AI will be able to mimic human creativity even more seamlessly, further blurring the lines between human-generated and AI-generated art. This will likely lead to more collaboration between humans and AI in the creative process, with AI being used to assist, enhance, and inspire human artists.
As we move forward, it will be important for us to navigate the ethical challenges that come with working with AI in the creative process and figure out new ways to collaborate that respect authorship and originality. However, when we no longer know what is real or created by AI, there won’t be room for discrimination against artists who use AI.
Art can be about what it is, rather than about who created it.
The role of humanity in the future of art is simple: we will still be the creative person in this process. The only difference is that now, artists can create without the technical skills needed by artists of the past (e.g. painting and drawing).
Think about how long it takes manual artists to learn how to shade someone’s nose with a charcoal pencil on a canvas! Today, all you need is a bright imagination and the ability to manipulate AI.
The imagination of the artist is what will differentiate them from someone else, not their technical skills.
As AI capabilities keep growing, and its integration into the creative process continues to increase, we will see new ways of creating and expressing ourselves, new forms of art and media, and new opportunities for collaboration between humans and AI. The creative process itself is being reshaped by the integration of AI, and its outcome will be shaped by the decisions we make on how to work with AI in a responsible and ethical way. The potential is huge, and we are just at the beginning of a new era of AI-generated art and media.
Christian Burke heads up the data science teams at Refik Anadol Studio, which include AI, Machine Learning, Web, and Web3 development.
