You’ve no doubt seen those posts of people sharing how they’d look in the civil war, or as a Celtic chief, or whatever historical figure. They’re pretty fun, right?

They also raise a lot of ethical questions around artificial intelligence and art.

AI has to be trained using existing art in order to make new art and the issue has been raised around the use of the styles of living artists. You can ask an AI to make art in the style of someone you admire and it will, but what does this mean?

For living artists it means that their work can now be taken in directions they never intended, without credit or compensation. Copyright laws typically only protect finished works, not artistic styles, so technically this is allowed but morally and ethically it shouldn’t be.

Having said that, AI is here to stay and in recent weeks, the world around us has shifted permanently. We can’t undo it, so now we need to figure out how to live with it.

I personally think after a period of uncertainty, things will settle down. People who can’t afford human artists will use AI, and the people who want higher value, “authentic” art will continue to work with human artists. Rather than being devalued, human made art will increase in value because of AI.

There will be shifts in how art is made, credited and distributed, but we’ve been experiencing shifts for the past few decades with the advent of digital art and desktop publishing.

As artists and creatives, we will survive and even thrive. Whether you use, or plan to use, AI or not, being aware of the implications of it in our world is critical to successfully navigating the new reality of a world powered by and influenced by AI.

What do you think about AI and art? Will it have, or has it already had, an impact on your work?