Is AI Art really Art?

Can AI Create True Art or Just a Clever Imitation?

AI-generated art is becoming more sophisticated, but does that mean it can replace human creativity?

No doubt, AI art can generate some visually stunning work. Nobody will argue that AI can make pretty things.

But is AI Art really Art?

This debate is heating up, with some people refusing to even call AI creations “art” at all.

And don’t dare say “AI photography” around certain crowds. That’s pure sacrilege.

I don’t take it too seriously as long as you’re not trying to pass if off as photography.

Like to me, “AI photography” is like “AI painting”. You used AI and made a thing to resemble said art from.

As long as you’re not trying to mislead anyone and we know it’s AI then who cares?

Well some do. They don’t even want you to put the words AI and photography in the same sentence.

Meanwhile, others have embraced AI fully claiming that it is just another tool in the artist’s toolbox.

Me?

My relationship with AI is…

Complicated.

Let’s just say I’ve experimented… call it research. Most of the images you find in this post are from my collection: 101 Experiments on OBJKT.

In this post I will look at both camps and will be exploring the difference between AI-generated art and human-created art.

The following 3 images are straight out of ChatGPT, minimum effort

How AI Generates Art

How is AI art created?

Alright, so first I want to say I’m not an AI expert. I don’t fully understand it all myself. All I know that it uses some complex algorithms that analyzes large amounts of datasets.

It then utilizes that information and pattern recognition to create an image based on your prompts.

I know, it sounds kind of mathy but stay with me, because this is where it gets a little fuzzy.

I am led to believe that AI isn’t directly copying in the way a human might trace or plagiarize an artwork.

Instead, it learns patterns, styles, and structures from the work it trained on in the dataset of existing images.

Then it generates something new based on what it has “seen.”

The AI Art Debate – What’s the Controversy over AI art?

This is also where things get very controversial because a lot of AI models have been trained on publicly available images scraped from the internet.

Everything from paintings and photography to illustrations, without the original artists giving consent.

For this reason, I can relate to why these artists might be upset.

Like imagine spending decades of your life developing a unique artistic voice, your style, and then a program scrapes all the data and creates a style based on your work alone.

I think most of these public AI programs are created from a large range of differing work but who is to stop someone from creating a AI program based solely around you!

And then, just to add insult to injury. They package it, sell it, and profit from it.

Meanwhile, you get nothing and have no control over it while everyone and anybody can type in a few words and generate a completely new work that is very similar to your body of work.

Soon, your unique style is drowned in a flood of AI-generated imitations, each one growing more refined at replicating your work.

Remember this post I wrote: Can AI Really Copy Artistic Style? I Gave It a Shot

Yeah, it was kind of a controversial experiment.

But guess what. The concern isn’t just some “what if?” experiment.

It’s already a reality.

Just Google “Greg Rutkowski AI art” or click through to this article: “This artist is dominating AI-generated art. And he’s not happy about it.

So as you can see, a lot of traditional artists are not happy about AI and with good reason.

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Pro-AI Supporters Argument

Now, AI supporters will argue, AI is just another tool and humans also learn by imitation.

This is true.

Humans learn by imitation but only through years of effort, practice, and doubting ourselves.

We don’t just copy.

We interpret.

We adapt.

We fuse our own lived experiences, emotions, and perspectives into what we create.

Eventually, all this, blends into something more personal.

AI, on the other hand, doesn’t learn like we do. It doesn’t struggle, experiment, or evolve with personal insight.

It just analyzes data and regurgitates patterns.

Now you might say, but the lived experience is coming through my use of the AI tool.

And sure, to an extent. But is guiding a machine the same as creating from experience?

Is it the same as creating from a skill that took years to develop? You don’t just learn something overnight. It takes years and years to refine a technique.

With AI, you can create something that looks amazing and visually appealing in less than 10 minutes after first picking up the tool.

Now to be fair, not everyone’s just typing in “cyberpunk Panda in Tokyo” and calling it a day. I always try to add my touch, add some photography textures, adjust the light, whatever. I try to add me.

Some people go even deeper. They’re pushing boundaries that take serious time and effort to master. They’re training their own models or fine-tuning AI on custom datasets to build something truly personal.

That takes time, practice, and creative intention.

I don’t know, maybe in all this work it can start to feel like yours?

That’s the question I keep tripping over.

I mean, you can input your ideas, tweak the settings or whatever, but at the end of the day, the AI is doing the heavy lifting.

It’s also the only tool that someone can just hand you their prompt, and you will be able to get results very close to what they are achieving.

AI is generating the visuals.

And that changes the relationship between the creator and the creation.

Are You an Artist or a Curator?

Here’s a question that stings a little:

If you generate a prompt and pick your favorite result, is that creating or curating?

Because that’s what I feel like when I’m using AI.

I’m not saying curation isn’t creative. It absolutely can be. But it’s different.

When I go out to shoot photos, I don’t know what I’ll get. I’m reacting to light, weather, emotion, and chance. I make choices in the moment. I mess up. I adjust. I get lucky.

The result? Something that’s tied to me in a way I can’t replicate.

With AI, I felt like I was borrowing. That’s the best word I can think of. It felt borrowed.

I’m not saying you can’t tell an interesting story by curating the right set of images. You definitely can and there is an art to that.

But at the end of the day, do you want to be a creator, or a curator?

I know, that was harsh wasn’t it.

But I can’t help it. I’m big on the human touch.

The Human Touch – Why Emotion and Experience Matter in Art

Every brushstroke, lyric, or photograph tells a story shaped by the artist’s personal journey, emotions, and unique perspective.

I talked about this in the post, “Photography Isn’t Just What You See, It’s What You Feel”

It’s the reason why me and you could take the same walk, in the same place, at the same time and moment, and come away with a completely unique and different set of photos.

We could take the same painting class and come away with a completely distinct and unique style.

But if I gave you the name of an AI program and the exact same prompt, I used to generate a text-based image, you’d end up with something very similar. Not identical, but close.

Isn’t that just a recipe then?

You see, where AI is relying on the existence of repeatable patterns, the human touch is one of unpredictability, perspective and a lived experience.

Which brings us to the soul of art…

The Soul of Art

“AI Art has no Soul!”

You hear or see this comment a lot about AI art.

Then, right on cue, you see someone posting some AI art with the caption, “and they say AI art has no soul” usually accompanied by some generic, soulless creation straight from the bot’s mouth.

Art is more than just aesthetics. It’s more than a pretty picture or something that looks unbelievably realistic, amazing or fantastical.

It’s about meaning and intent.

It’s about the connection between the artist and the audience, where the meaning behind the work is just as important as the work itself.

It’s about expressing emotions, telling stories, and reflecting the depth of humanity that AI simply can’t feel or understand.

It’s about the little imperfections. The brushstrokes, the hesitations, and yes, as Bob Ross would say, the happy accidents.

That’s what makes art feel alive and uniquely human.

It’s about a lived experience.

A memory.

Failing.

Self-Doubt.

Making Choices.

Perseverance.

Acceptance.

Nostalgia.

A dream.

I think that’s what is meant when they say AI may mimic art, but it can’t replicate the soul behind it.

And that’s why AI art will always lack something essential.

The personal fulfillment that comes from creating, struggling, and growing as an artist.

That is the true measure of a soul.

AI as a Creative Tool, Not a Replacement for Artists

I’ve said a lot of disparaging things about AI art.

I’ve questioned it, challenged it, and overall, have been pretty critical.

Still, I’ve used it.

And I had a lot of fun.

Heck, I even had an AI piece displayed at NFTNYC 2024. I was proud, kind of. I even told some people.

But secretly, I wished it were my photography being showcased.

But that feeling didn’t stop me from using AI again.

I even completed a whole series on Rodeo.club called Are You OK?

This series featured groups of people staring down at you, as if you were on the ground, asking… Are you OK?

So… Are you OK? Now that I’ve shared all these negative feelings about AI art?

Of course, you are.

I’m just one person, shaped by my own experiences and opinions.

This is my relationship with AI, Photography, and Art.

But am I OK?

Sure, I guess.

But something’s still missing…

No matter what I created with these programs, no matter how impressive it looked or how much I altered it to make it my own, somethings always missing.

The sense of creative ownership and fulfillment just isn’t there.

It never felt like my photography, where every shot represents a real moment in time. Something genuine, something I could stand behind and call mine.

It just felt rather empty.

Like it was borrowed rather than created. Like I had orchestrated something interesting but never truly toiled in the process.

With photography, there’s a connection, a memory tied to the moment I took the photo.

The camera in my hands, who I was with, where I was. All the decisions I had to make in the moment.

There’s intent, experience, and a piece of me in every frame.

But with AI, that connection just felt absent.

No matter how much I guided the process, it always felt like I was just choosing from a set of preexisting images.

And that’s the thing. Art isn’t just about the final image.

It’s about how it came to be.

The struggles and choices.

Learning.

Failing.

Succeeding.

That’s where the soul of art lives and I think I need to touch this place to feel complete.

I think a lot of artists do.

Below, an original AI image prompt result, with 3 variations created in Photoshop. My attempt to toil in the process and gain some sense of ownership.

Will AI Art Replace Real Art?

If your sitting there wondering: Is AI Art a Threat to Artists? then you have to approach it from two sides. My immediate answer is no. Not in the way that people will just stop doing art and choose the easy path every time.

Artists live for the process, their process.

That’s why you still have film photography alive and well in the digital age.

People that have the artists spirit will choose their path every time. Something that sings to their soul.

Maybe it’s AI art, or film photography, digital photography, writing, painting, drawing, woodworking, sculpting, leaf art, or making art out of trash.

Art isn’t just about the end result, it’s about the process.

Will AI Art take jobs from real artists?

Yeah, no doubt about it. Individuals and Businesses will lean more on AI when it can save them money. I don’t think there is any question about it.

Startup needs a logo. Anyone with a tiny bit of experience using AI will just generate it instead of finding someone on Fiverr to do it for a hundred bucks.

AI is going to take some jobs but there will always be people who don’t want to bother. They trust someone else to do it.

Someone with a vision bigger than theirs.

An artist.

Final Thoughts – Is AI Art really Art?

I’m not saying AI art doesn’t have its place.

I’ve used it. It can be fun to use, and Yes, you absolutely can curate a story, idea or narrative using AI.

AI is such a unique creative tool. It opens so many new possibilities for expression while lending a visual medium and voice to virtually anyone.

But this is my truth.

I’m not sure it can ever replace the artist or the journey it takes to feel like one.

At least not for me, but maybe you feel differently.

And maybe that’s the heart of it.

I’m not here to gatekeep what counts as art. I’m not even saying AI-generated work can’t move you or mean something. It absolutely can.

But for me, it’s not just about what gets made. It’s about how it gets made. The years of doubt and taking shitty photos over and over again and thinking, god I suck, am I ever going to get better?

I think that’s the part I’m missing when I just run a prompt and wait to see what I get.

Still, if AI helps you tell your story, if it gives you a different feeling entirely, then I think that’s pretty cool.

I just know that I need the mess. I need the 10,000 bad photos. I need the me in the art.

Maybe that’s not the only way to be an artist anymore.

But it’s mine.

💬 Do You Consider AI Art Art?

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