Will AI Art Ruin the Art Industry?

AI may be taking over how we view art in the modern world

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Taylor Koehnemann

AI art is expanding. Will it possibly overrun man-made art?

Taylor Koehnemann, Reporter

Around a year ago, the topic of artificial intelligence skyrocketed amongst people and the internet. Eventually, we got our first good look at AI with interviews of the AI and more, although one of the biggest and most popular breakthroughs of AI is its very own artwork. As popular as this artwork is, could it ruin the man-made art industry?

First of all, what is AI art and how is it made? There are a few particular types: The expansion photos and the description-based art. These both are different in their very own ways with the description-based art being based around a simple description of what you want the AI to show. It will then use its mind to give out the best it can, but what makes these pieces so interesting is that the AI is still developing. This means most pictures will look disoriented and disfigured while still having the main idea set within that art piece.

A good example of a description-based picture is this piece shown here of a futuristic city. As seen, it may look odd and weirdly shaped but zoomed out it still holds the bigger picture using blue and purple neon colors, tall buildings and what looks to be a rainy night sky. This is only the beginning of what AI art can be.

AI art of futuristic city. (AI)

Next is the expansion photos. This types of AI art is used through an already existing picture, where you erase part of the picture or let it expand the picture. Some people have taken old pieces of artwork and asked the AI to expand these photos, giving it more depth than before. 

Others have taken photos of an existing photo, erased a portion of that picture and asked AI to add something new. These ones in particular give some of the weirder outcomes. Here is an expansion photo of the Mona Lisa, now giving a larger view of Mona Lisa herself.

AI expanded Mona Lisa painting. (AI)

Now the real question is – can this ruin the man-made art industry? Currently there is a small market for AI art mostly being sold online, similar to how NFTs were sold. To most people, AI art can’t compare to the real thing and the creative minds of people. 

However, this art only continues to advance since it is AI created to become better and develop. There is a possible chance that real artwork and AI artwork could eventually both be on the same playing field with each other if the development factor does actually work well. Right now, the answer is hard to tell since this is only the start, but for now the answer is no.

But, there is still much time for this category to grow and become popular all over the world. Time will only tell.