AI as tools to generate images have upset many. The opinions on whether the resulting works can be called art differ greatly between skeptics and users of these tools. In an exploration of the impact that the use of AI and other digital tools has on the perception of visual data as art, I created a series of four works and released them on zeroone where they can be collected for free.
The images consist of scans of random physical sketches that I made recently and that don't fit my personal definition of art. That definition is pretty straight–forward: If the creator of something calls it art, it usually is, and if the work is the manifestation of any of the creator's ideas or concepts, it usually is, too. The drawings at the base of the artworks are just meaningless sketches; some are more detailed and were done with more enthusiasm than others, but in the end, they are all just random and made by an amateur with neither talent nor message. Not art.
What happens when I add bits of AI images to them? These AI images aren't art, either. They are merely the first visually pleasing outputs of quick, uninspired prompts or recreations of other physical drawings I did and carry no meaning in themselves.
But now, I call the resulting images art: By adding meaningless AI–generated content to meaningless hand–made drawings, I want to encourage people to question their own definitions of art, especially with regard to the impact and use of AI tools.
