Recently, I was preparing content for social media for a mural call for artists. I usually use our library of photos for marketing various subjects. (I refuse to use stock photos.) As I looked for a photo to use, I decided I didn’t want to use any of our artist in action or mural photos because they had been used many times already. I had used a photo of the location where the mural was going to go in the news release. But it was just a boring wall photo. I wanted the image to immediately say what the post was about, but still require the viewer to read the post. I decided to play with filtering.
Please understand, I am not a graphic artist by any means and must rely on programs to help me create easy graphics. The hard stuff always goes to the professionals. I had a photo of an artist painting a mural from a previous project and decided to filter the photo so it looked hand drawn and unidentifiable. I applied a sketch filter to the photo which looked kind of like what I wanted. As I played with it, the filtered photo looked a little different each time and had some weird details. It was then that I processed the fact that I was using artificial intelligence (AI) to manipulate my photo.
I immediately heard my daughter’s rants (who is a professional artist) about how AI is going to destroy the creative industry and should not be used EVER. And I absolutely agree that AI is going to destroy the Earth’s environment. I don’t use ChatGPT or other platforms because it’s feeding the beast that threatens the future of civilization. But…
Did I take work from an artist by using the tool to manipulate my photo? I mean we’ve been doing that with Photoshop since forever ago. Am I promoting AI by using the manipulated photo in a post? I don’t think so. I’m not trying to pass it off as not AI, and it’s definitely not art. It is just “interesting” enough to get attention, and the viewer will read the message and understand it’s what matters. That is my hope!
The bigger picture though is that the tools for these platforms have traditionally been created by artists so people like me can use them for easy stuff. Is that still happening? Do artists still contribute? If my photo is any indication, I would guess not. I don’t know. What I do know is if I wanted and needed something that was truly creative and unique, I would and do hire an artist. There is no substitute for the human factor in art. But it’s complicated, isn’t it.
I knew I was going to get some pushback if I used the graphic. I did it anyway. I believe that interested artists will get that the main message is about the project and apply for the commission. At the very least, it triggers a fair and insightful discussion about AI usage, and I am okay with that.
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