117: AI is not the Enemy... WE ARE.

We are our own worst enemies...

The #1 question I’m asked has finally been usurped. It used to be “how do I make money with my art” and now it’s “What’s your stance on AI Art?”

My quick answer is basically this…. NOTHING has changed. You should stop worrying about it unless it’s directly affecting your livelihood… and even then, there are ways to adapt and excel. Remember, you can turn “problems” into solutions and opportunities. Read on…

Right now we’re living in one of the most interesting times for Artists. The threat of AI seemingly hangs over us, this existential threat that’s going to wipe out all art careers and human creativity. It’s complete bullshit.

Welcome to Week 117 of the Draw or Die Club Newsletter for Artists.

Side note: Happy Father’s day to all of the dads. Especially shout out to the STEP-DADS out there this year. Step parents aren’t given enough shout-outs. That you step up, step in to support those kids out there, cheers to you! The universe won’t forget.

Now let’s tackle this week’s topic… AI vs Artists…

The Fears…

The AI has been trained on other artist’s works, it looks and “scrapes”, swiping all of your art and visuals from across the web!

And now all these programs we use as artists are embedding this in, and scraping our art AS we make it and we can’t opt-out. See the Adobe Terms of Service issue.

Corporations, publishers are all flooding to use it, and even making full on projects and don’t need artists anymore. Creative budgets, departments have all seen cuts.

The Reality Check…

We are all the thieves and pirates. Nothing REALLY has changed. Artists, writers, musicians for ages have been looking at other people’s art, being “inspired” by it, flat out tracing it, copying it. Whether you admit it or not, this is more than likely how YOU, as a human being, learned to draw.

Artists say bullshit like “well I changed it more than 30% so now it’s original!”. And it’s not just copying from other art.

What about poor photographers? Shephard Fairey (the founder of OBEY) stole a photo from the Associated Press and made one of the most iconic posters in history… but he had to admit he lied and stole the image. And he paid a heavy price. He’s built an entire brand (OBEY) around doing that. (by the way, I love Shep’s work, and I love OBEY)

It happens in comic books ALL DAMN THE TIME. Artists light box other poses, and when they get caught they either say “I was just trying to save time!” or “it was an homage!” 😂 Okay. Sure.

Generative Art is just doing the same thing you’ve done, but a trillion times faster. Is that scary? I don’t know. And I personally don’t care or dwell too much on it.

Curb Your Outrage…

A couple artists I spoke with who were up in arms about this taking jobs away… in reality weren’t getting jobs in the first place. Or even seriously pursuing work or putting effort in to finding paid work. But now AI is a convenient excuse to say “See!? Why even bother!” - I see you. And I’ll call you out on this in the most polite way.

It’s easy to get caught up and carried away in a wave of outrage. I like to try to go one or two layers beneath the surface to see where the truth is hiding. And in some cases that’s going to feel uncomfortabe when we hold the mirror up to ourselves.

Another thing I’m personally disliking are these posts from art friends saying they will unfollow or banish you if you even use AI for anything! The “you’re part of the problem!” - That energy can quickly turn into “show me your papers!”

STEAL From It…

I’m not going to share their name, out of respect that I don’t know they spoke on this publicly, but Recently I was with a very well-known and sought after artist and they were asked their thoughts on AI and if it was a threat or how did they feel about it stealing from their art.

I loved the answer:

“If it’s going to steal from us, I’m all for stealing from it.”

Ways they suggested to use Gen AI:

Save time: I don’t suggest full on copying or having it draw things for you, but it’s possible you could save a lot of time on composition of a piece, or interesting color palettes. To be able to draft up a 100 ideas to look at in a matter of seconds until one catches YOUR eye. Then use it as a starting point.

Reference: You could use it to not only find reference for what you’re looking for, but be able to describe a specific expression or pose you’re looking for.

It’s okay to experiment and play…

There are artists out there who are genuinely afraid to even try or look at GenAI, due to the outrage of their piers. I’m going to do the opposite and encourage you to play and explore when and where you can. I wouldn’t waste much money on it.

This is how we humans learn. This is how we get better.

Honestly, It’s every man or woman for themself to decide how or if to use AI or not. It’s not going anywhere. You should at least understand how it works and if there are pieces that can help you in some way.

How do you BEAT AI???

You’ll never outrun AI, it’s too fast. But you can always out-human it. I think instead of AI being this giant threat to Artists, it’s a massive opportunity for you to lean into the “hand-made” art you do. Made by hand.

Have more real conversations with your fans and customers. Get to know them. Build community.

Whatever you do, Don’t use AI as an excuse to give up or not create art.

This is our chance to be Human AF.

Today’s Drawing Prompt…

THE DREAD PIRATE ROBOTS

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