Vincent Van-Goh-ing digital?

The wonders of artificial intelligence (AI) are ever growing and no one can deny that this technology is impressive. However, some may complain about the lack of artistic creation that has gone into producing these images as they are determined by an algorithm. Artists, graphic designers and illustrators are just a few examples of professionals that have been affected by the AI art tools. Some say it removes all emotion from the skill because there is no creative process involved. Others believe it has the potential to drive hate related movements. There are many free AI art generators available online that can create art in a matter of seconds based on just a few words. I tried it out myself asking for a representation of “University of Leeds students” and got something that looks horrifyingly realistic. Let us know if this looks like you or anyone you know at the University of Leeds!

To create these pictures, the AI has sourced images and text from across the internet to comprise a database with over a billion pictures and uses an algorithm to create a new image from these. Alongside this mammoth data collection comes copyright issues as it has taken photographs and artworks from rights holders without their consent. Furthermore, the internet is also full of negative and unwanted imagery which could lead to some users harnessing the power of AI to create discriminatory, offensive and illegal material. As this is a relatively new technology, the law has not yet been updated to include ethical considerations around AI activity.

This has the potential to threaten the livelihoods of professional artists who rely on their work for income, therefore, there needs to be an increasing awareness and protection of online artwork to prevent artists being plagiarised and losing profit. The government must look into censoring what can be produced from AI to prevent people from using it to spread hate or illegal images.