Can AI really replace artists?
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Is AI trying to take my job? Maybe. Will it be able to? Not yet.
If you had asked my child self to draw a future where artificial intelligence took over, it would have been set against a Blade Runner-esque backdrop, with humanoid robots manning our factories and running our households. A little dramatic? Perhaps, but the artist in me certainly wouldn’t have dreamed that AI would one day recreate paintings and write poetry in less time than it takes to read this sentence.
Anyone working in a creative industry will tell you – we’re in an interesting, if not slightly terrifying space right now. The possibilities of AI feel endless and unpredictable. When Open AI first launched DALL·E (an AI system that can generate realistic images and art), there was an understandably huge outcry about what this meant for artists. What happens when the speed and ease of AI outweighs the value of our own ideas? What makes art ‘art’ to begin with?
While there are important conversations to be had about whose art is powering these engines – DALL·E 3 now declines requests for art in the style of a living artist – it’s important to note that new technology has always challenged, revolutionised and in many cases, aided creativity. For a time, CDs threatened to make records obsolete. In 2023, record sales continued to grow for the 16th consecutive year.
There are, and will continue to be, businesses turning to AI over local artists. But I’d argue these businesses never truly recognised the value in collaborating with us to begin with.
In my own work, when I partner with a brand, so much of the value rests not just in the final result, but in the community it resonates with. A while back, I worked with local coffee brand L'affare on their Gusto coffee packaging. I had been buying their coffee for years. I often took breaks from my home studio to draw from their cafe over a flat white – so designing their packaging felt natural, intuitive. The ideas flew out of intangible moments and memories, not a written transcript of data.
Recently, I collaborated with local menswear brand Rembrandt on the design of a silk pocket square. I’m sure with enough time, the right prompts and plenty of direction, an AI tool could have achieved a similar result. But would the flowers it rendered have been influenced by the jasmine that grew on the outside of my childhood home, weaving its way up to my window in summer? Would the orchid it came up with mirror the tattoo my mum has, covering up her scars from a difficult surgery?
It does leave me wondering: would a customer standing in a store – glancing over a spread of designs – gravitate towards one created by a computer, or mine?
I’ve managed to turn creativity into my career. It has been challenging, but I’m one of the lucky ones. Now that we’re slowly starting to compete with technology, it’s not getting any easier. But the return on investment from working with artists is undeniably there. In a cost of living crisis, if we have the means, we all want to know our hard-earned money is going towards real people. It’s the same reason I’m more likely to reach for Fix and Fogg at the supermarket, or buy a Garage Project beer on a night out. I have faith that, at least for now, people will continue to support the art we believe – and believe in.
Bonnie Brown is a Wellington-based artist and illustrator whose designs have attracted partnerships with an array of NZ brands and major global companies.
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