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title: "Timeline photos Some of my artist friends are handwringing about the…"
date: 2023-01-13
source: facebook
type: Archer T. Ships added a new photo.
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# Timeline photos Some of my artist friends are handwringing about the…

*January 13, 2023 · Facebook*

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![](img/2023-01-13-fb-002-img01.webp){style="max-width:100%; margin:1em 0"}
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Some of my artist friends are handwringing about the possible effects of AI on their career, and complaining about the use of their art in the AI training sets.\
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First, what artist doesn\'t study past artists? Does that mean that their art is no longer original? If I read HR Giger\'s art books and then create Giger-esque art should I pay royalties to the HR Giger estate?\
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What if I also looked at Norman Rockwell paintings, and my Giger-esque painting also looks Rockwell-esque? How do we divide up whose estate is \"owed\" money? Seems ridiculous to me, and impossible to do.\
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AI\'s are doing something analogous to the artist studying past artists, but at a much faster, vaster scale.\
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AI tools will spur the same thing that happened with the invention of recorded music, photography, and photoshop: an explosion of creativity. The average person will be able to create art that would\'ve otherwise been beyond their skill or budget.\
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And skilled artists will learn to create new kinds of art that would\'ve been otherwise impossible.\
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Art is not a zero sum game. The demand for art is effectively infinite. As artistic creation becomes less expensive, markets will open up that were otherwise cost-prohibitive.\
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Generative VR, for example, will require vast quantities of AI generated art. Imagine that instead of a history book, you could jack into a photo-realistic VR world populated with AI emulated historical figures (based on the known historical documents, paintings, letters, etc). Watch with a God\'s eye view of an AI-generated battle of Gettysburg, or play along as one of the soldiers.\
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New kinds of jobs will arise, like prompt designer, AI trainer, and hand editor. Yet even old school techniques will continue on; photography didn\'t destroy painting as a career. Recorded music didn\'t destroy live performances. People value the \"human\" touch, flaws and all.\
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IMO, we should view the rise of AI-art with excitement, not fear. We will become as gods: speak the right incantation, and our AI golems will create the worlds we desire.\
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Illustration of Luddites destroying machines in an English textile factory in the early 19th century by Cecil Langley Doughty (1974).
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