Think of a world where art co-exists with generative art. The music that we listen to, the art that we gaze and the sculptures that we admire could one day be a creation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) rather than solely being a human product. The thought sparks ideas of opportunity as well as concerns for the future. Will generative AI replace what makes art human? Let’s try to find some answers. 

AI in Art: A Rising Threat? 

The history of humans creating art predates civilization itself. In fact, the oldest recorded art dates back 45,500 years! Compared to that, AI integration, or more commonly generative art is barely a year or two old. 

The use of tech in art has, however, been prevalent for a few decades now. For all of this time, tech and human creativity co-existed to bring art to different verticals. But with AI, there’s a new dimension, a new advancement that simplifies the process. The democratization of art, as many call it, is also a means of exploitation that undermines what separates human art, the use of creativity in its true sense. 

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Let’s look at how AI impacts different art verticals to get a better understanding. 

Visual Art and Painting 

Perhaps the most striking impact of AI is observed in visual arts and painting. It is also the main point of contention for many debating whether AI is taking over art or not. With GAN-based AI algorithms, platforms like Dall•E and Dall•E 2 have made it possible to create art using simple natural language inputs. For the first time in human history, it allowed almost anyone to create decent-looking art without having the technical expertise. 

Language input based generative art became better over time and it can now even incorporate art styles. Even though what GAN-based AI algorithms can do may seem like straight-up magic, it still can’t replace the artists, not right away. 

For generative art, the language inputs need to be technical, with a strict understanding of parameters to create something that can be a striking piece of art. A simple text would definitely create an output, but that won’t be very precise in nature. 

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So what does it mean for visual arts? Yes, generative AI would be able to put out tons of art pieces but it won’t be ethical in any way. Why? Because the AI is “drawing inspiration” from data sources of existing art, created by artists. Generative AI would no doubt be able to replicate preciseness or styles. But it is unlikely to be able to produce something like the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, Starry Night, or the School of Athens, original pieces that defined genres and generations of artists. 

Music Composition 

Last year ChatGPT opened a whole new Pandora’s box with a frontier in AI assistance and NLP. ChatGPT quickly went from what it could do to what it couldn’t do in a matter of months. And naturally, it had its impact on the music scene as well. 

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ChatGPT and other similar NLP-based chatbots can sync verses for music ranging in all sorts of genres. However, the impact of AI isn’t limited to the lyrics only. Algorithmic composition now allows musicians to fine-tune a composition in a desired genre or create an entire composition from scratch. While it’s not in a stage to replace human artists entirely, it’s increasingly becoming integrated into the core process. 

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Film and Videos 

The combination of chatbots and generative AI has made way for AI integration in films and video verticals as well. Chatbots like ChatGPT and Bard can write movie scripts based on prompts. However, it still lacks the refinement of traditional human-generated scripts. 

Leaving things to AI also means that generated scripts often have an incoherent storyline. Generative AI is being used to create visual effects as well as animations for video production. Unlike painting and music, AI integration in films and videos is still evolving.

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Sculpting and Architecture 

The use of AI in sculpting has been pioneered by CAD-based software like Blender. Similar to generative AI, GAN-based software can render and color-grade sculptures based on language inputs. However, the outputs are often spurious with a lack of reliability. 

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Generative AI is mostly used to perfect a digitally created sculpture. It acts as an AI assistant rather than taking a central role in generating a piece. The story is somewhat similar for architecture — data-driven designs can help ensure design stability, aesthetics, and efficiency. It is also being widely used for 3D printing purposes. 

Literature and Writing 

Recently, Japanese novelist Rie Kudan was the subject of widespread speculation for the partial use of chatbots for her new novel. The novel, Tokyo Sympathy Tower even won her the prestigious Akutagawa Prize. Natural language-based AI algorithms are increasingly becoming “humane” thanks to the large volume of trial data available on the internet. As more and more people use these chatbots, the bots can produce results that are becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate. 

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The highly contextual and coherent output means that the content writing industry is under serious threat of being taken over by AI. 

Final Words

The rise of AI in the artistic world is real and it's happening right now. On a superficial level, the impact of AI is still in its nascent stage without an imminent threat to replace artists in different genres. For the time being, there appears to be a harmonious co-existence of AI and humans in different art domains. But as AI becomes more sentient, the future may pose challenges for artists without proper regulation to control the widespread use of generative AI. 

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