AI OR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SENDS A THRILL TO EVERYONE WITH ITS GIANT LEAP IN DEVELOPMENT. IS IT A TOOL TO REVOLUTIONIZE OR DESTROY THE ART WORLD?

TEXT: PRATCHAYAPOL LERTWICHA
IMAGE: GENERATED WITH STABLE DIFFUSION V.2.1 BY PRATCHAYAPOL LERTWICHA

(For Thai, press here)

AI, or artificial intelligence, has been integrated into our lives for quite some time now, whether it’s the facial authentication of our iPhone, the results of our Google search, or even our Netflix recommendations. However, the new breakthroughs in AI we’ve been hearing about continue to excite and, at times, intimidate us, just as they did when the term artificial intelligence was first introduced to the world.

Those who are active on social media, particularly Thai netizens, must have seen anime-style illustrations appear on their feeds in the past couple of weeks. The illustrations were made by the AI of an application called Loopsie, which transforms a regular photograph into an anime rendition. If we hired an illustrator to draw and color something from a photograph, it would most likely take them a day, if not longer, to complete. However, with the help of AI, transforming a snapshot into an anime-style illustration is completed only in a matter of minutes.

But what concerns many artists about AI isn’t just its astounding speed. The seemingly surreal ability of AI is derived from the processing of millions of photographs and man-made artworks, which AI feeds on as it analyzes the data and trains itself to create these ‘AI-generated arts’. The problem is that these works are frequently used without the artists’ approval or authorization, not to mention that artists are rarely compensated for such usage of information. Artists are debating whether AI should be employed in the creative realm and whether the technology is exploiting actual artists and creators. With AI’s capabilities skyrocketing to the point that artists are struggling to keep up, how can everything coexist in the future?

AI: A new facet to artistic possibilities

AI’s extraordinary abilities may cause many artists to lose their jobs. That much is true. However, Pat Pataranutaporn, a Thai researcher at the MIT Media Lab with an area of interest in humans-AI relationships, shared with us his perspective on how a newly developed technology with both pros and cons is perfectly normal and that we can view AI as a new facet or alternative to artistic creation.

“I see technology as a tool, and tools, whatever they are, can have both positive and negative  consequences. Artists used to consider realism to be the essence of art, but then surrealism emerged, and paintings no longer had to be realistic. These kinds of movements are what drive art forward. At the same time, artists who choose to avoid surrealism in favor of realism may feel as though they are falling behind. The introduction of cameras diminished the value of realist paintings even further. So there are two sides to everything. Change isn’t something you can resist because the world is progressing every minute of every day. This world we’re living in is never the same with each passing day.”

“But there have been times when people preferred to reminisce about the past; think about the Y2K trend. Even the existence of cameras in this world does not preclude artists from creating realistic portraits or paintings. AI, in my opinion, helps diversify artistic choices by providing people with more options for their artistic creations.”

“For the time being, there may be artists who believe that AI is stealing their work, so they see AI as this evil and immoral force. However, there are artists whose conceptual approaches and works raise some intriguing questions. Those who are fascinated by this phenomenon and may employ AI to make a work that questions the method by which AI steals artworks from human artists To me, creativity is breaking free from the mold, and perhaps AI may help humans break free from that mold more quickly. But the question is, once we’ve reached that point, what kind of effort will enable us to cross it and enter uncharted territory?”

Violation of Intellectual Property?

AI may broaden one’s perspective and creative landscape. It could be a new kind of brush that allows us to create a completely new artistic vision. However, many artists are still concerned about whether what AI is doing is a violation of intellectual property and whether it is exploiting the creators within the art community.

“I look at what’s happening as a transition period,” Pat said when asked about the highly debated topic of AI and intellectual property. “In retrospect, the concept of intellectual property, or copyright, as we know it today, only emerged not long ago. Before the Internet, there was no such thing as copyright. But with the advent of the Internet, there is now Creative Commons, where we can use certain images and remix them without having to ask for permission. Different sorts of licenses have come into being, and the concept of copyright laws has evolved. So, when AI arrives, there will be a need to develop a new concept and framework for copyright and intellectual property.”

“Right now, what Jaron Lanier proposed is particularly interesting to me. Lanier is a Microsoft senior researcher and one of the pioneers of virtual reality. What he proposed is known as data dignity, and it is essentially about how “if your data, whether it be photographs or anything, is being used to train AI, and that data makes the AI smarter, you will have to be compensated by that AI.”

“That may sound idealistic, but there is a debate going on about what a new economic model or legislation should look like to benefit everyone involved in the development of an AI. This is what’s happening right now.”

With the dust not yet settled, should we use AI?

As creators worry about whether they can or should use the tool at a time when the concept of intellectual property and copyright is still developing alongside AI, Saliltorn Thongmeensuk, a legal academic from the Thailand Development Research Institute, said that the people who should be concerned are the AI developers, who are now obligated to figure out how to make the tool they create justifiable.

“I don’t want copyright concerns to deter creators from using AI. Developers should be the ones to worry about where they will get their data and how they will make everything more legitimate in the future.”

“At the moment, there are AI developers who use only data that has been granted permission by the copyright holders. The EU AI Act is being drafted in Europe, requiring AI developers who source copyrighted materials to train their AI to provide sufficient information about the data they are using for training. It demands transparency and accountability from developers while also providing artists with this tool for checking and verifying. This is the legal trend of the future. AI developers will be expected to be more responsible and transparent.”

Living with AI: Understanding, not just using

Pat believes that the arrival of AI will make the subjects of art more challenging and difficult. If artists want to adapt and learn to live with AI, having a profound knowledge of it is one way to help them deal with this powerful instrument.

“If we’re not just using AI but developing a deep understanding of how it works, where the data comes from, or attempting to write codes that can modify or rectify it, we can actually push our creative ability incredibly far. It will make art more diverse, too. I believe that in the future, everyone will have their own AI, and each AI will be unique since humans are unique. People grow up differently and have different perspectives. If we use it right and creatively, AI will help expand our ideas and creative ability significantly.”

AI’s role in the creative and aesthetic realms is now inescapable. Instead of viewing it as a nemesis that needs to be kept away, wouldn’t it be better to try to understand and question it in order to find a way to coexist and pave a new creative trajectory that can lead to something incredible beyond our imagination?