Sierra Smith's Portfolio

^{This is for a school project, hi Murray!}

Introduction

In recent years, AI has had a massive upsurge online; it’s provided quite the controversy over the years, particularly in the art-based community with the use of AI image generation. This is thanks in part to the ease and speed with which they can be produced. Programs like DALL-E, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion make producing art seem just as easy as simply snapping your fingers, because that’s the essence of it! You type in a prompt, and out comes a shiny new bunch of pixels, arranged just for you.

Doesn’t that sound amazing? You don’t even need to be good at art to do it anymore! Except… Then what’s the point of it? Isn’t the whole point of the existence of art to express the human condition? If art is becoming more automated, who’s to say human artists aren’t going to be washed out by this massive technological tidal wave?

I am! In this blog, my intention is to reduce fear in other artists like me, people who are worried that the passion they hold for their craft is going to be less than worthless soon.

These tools, marketed as an efficient, cost-effective alternative to hiring human artists are more like the toys of a spoiled child. Exciting at first, tossed into the attic and left to gather dust once they get bored, simply a novelty because art is about so much more than just making something look pretty. It’s the human condition and that’s something AI will never truly have.

"Quick and Efficient" Is It Though?

When you look at this image, really look at it, what do you see?

I see a hand that fades into her torso, an ear that disappears and merges into the hair surrounding it, shapes that are there just to be there, like the texture that goes up her neck. Why does it fuse into her skin?

It’s sloppy, is the simple take away.

Now, you may be thinking to yourself, “But what about the artists who make things look wrong deliberately? Artists who intentionally draw bodies wrong? Those aren’t AI!”

The difference is that when those artists do it, it is purposeful, it is intentional. Look at the shapes that come in from behind her, what purpose do they serve? Were they just there from another piece? What’s the purpose of her thumb disappearing into her chest when this is clearly not body horror or something of the like?

There are always tells, but it helps if you know the artist.

These piece by Jamie Hewlett were posted on Twitter (Sorry, I just cannot call it X). Hewlett is a British artist and co-creator of the animated band, Gorillaz. His art style is infamously eccentric and exaggerated, which has caused people to believe his content is AI created, even though he’s been drawing since the 1980s.

You know what puts these pieces so far above the first one I showed you, though? It’s the fact that everything has soul and intention, every stroke was done with meaning. There’s something he’s trying to get across.

Creativity and Communication: The Core of Us

At its core, we use art to communicate with each other. When an artist makes something, they are creating something that is intended for other people to look at. It’s a conversation between the artist and the viewer, where the artist shares their experiences and inner thoughts.

One of my favourite quotes of all time is, “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable” – Cesar A Cruz. It represents so completely what so many artists love about what they do, being able to explore different part of the human psyche without consequence. On a fundamental level, humans love being able to share the deepest parts of themselves; as pack animals, it brings comfort to know that others can relate to us.

Art has always been a deeply human endeavor. Born from experiences that can never be the same for another person and nurtured from the curiosity of seeing through another lens. We crave understanding of ourselves and each other, things we might never fully understand but strive too anyways.

AI has no capability to understand the human experience, at this point it is a corporate plaything.

Corporations Think This is Feasible?

One of the main things I see artists worry about is the fact that AI can process prompts quickly, and spits out something that looks pretty good, briefly. Done in seconds and not a cent lost, now that’s a compelling service for any big corporation hoping to gnaw at the metaphorical bone for a few extra flakes. Why pay a human hundred, thousands of dollars for something that’s going to take hours, maybe even tens or hundreds of hours to complete?

I’ll tell you why.

You get what you pay for, and these companies pay jack for the product.

Businesses have recently been using AI to generate social media posts, advertisements, and promotional materials, this can, however, be a very slippery slope.

Click here to watch the AI Coke commercial

What do I mean by this? On November 18th, 2024, Coca Cola released their yearly Christmas commercial, and it’d be an understatement to say people were dissatisfied with it. The YouTube community was clear with their distaste for a multimillion-dollar company deciding to cheap out and use AI.

The like to dislike ratio on the video from last year and the video from this year are on opposite sides of the spectrum. The percentage of dislikes to likes on the ad from 2023 is 5%, whereas the dislikes are 1400% of the likes.

Massive backlash spread immediately, multiple artists speaking against the display. Like in this tweet from Alex Hirsch, the creator of “Gravity Falls.”

This tweet from Megan Cruz, who runs a podcast called, “The Broad Perspective”. Which is as she states, “A podcast that looks to dismantle the idea that there's only one kind of great art and offer a broader perspective... so to speak.”

Not only did Coca Cola use AI to make their commercial this year, but after receiving backlash and promptly denying that it was a mistake, they released a “new” Christmas commercial. After taking a second look at it though, I realized it was the same video from last year, just with HDR added. Isn’t it funny in a terribly not funny way that they responded to the outrage from their community with more cheapness and laziness.

Art Cannot Exist Without Humans

Even though AI-generated images continue to advance in sophistication, it simply cannot replace human creativity. AI can generate seemingly impressive images, mimic styles and mash them together to create a conglomerate of soulless pixels.

Artists infuse their work with unique perspectives, cultural narratives, and personal expression. These qualities are what bring humans into the limelight and keep us there, qualities that AI, no matter how advanced, cannot replicate. Art is deeply connected to human consciousness, driven by a desire to communicate, provoke thought, and explore the complexities of the human condition.

That’s my ramble on my little corner of the internet, thanks for reading this.