Artificial intelligence has made its way into fine art.
There was a recent fine art competition in CO that was won by an AI created piece. The ensuing uproar in the art community was expected, but brought up some good concepts to consider.
If art is created with a sentence can it still be appreciated? Valued?
I’m reminded of an industry trend in fine jewelry where lab created diamonds are now higher quality, but at a much lower expense to consumers (and lesser environmental impact to create). Does the lesser investment make them any less valuable?
Another example of an experienced software developer that corrected a bug in a day that a team of developers have been working on for weeks. What is the value of that developer’s day of work? A team of 10 working on this for 120 hours (1200 man hours) was not able to solve the issue that one developer could solve in 10 hours. Is that developer’s time 120 times more valuable?
Does the work of a trained fine artist lose value if beautiful art pieces can be created in a fraction of the time via AI? Value is an interesting concept — and has a lot to do with people’s personal experience and points of reference.
I believe this value dynamic is a reminder that human’s true contribution to our world is original thought. Many people are in industries that are going to continue to see huge technological advancements in the near future. These advancements will ensure that a variety of goods (and services) will be able to be created at a much lower total cost.
We can attempt to fight against this progress (which is rarely effective) or we can shift our thinking towards how we can make a unique contribution to our world.