Enough with the AI generated “Art”

Since the introduction of AI, computer generated images have flooded our society. From advertisements to personal work, it seems hard to get away from. Companies like Optimum and draft kings have recently used AI to generate advertisements that appear on social media, and I often see many AI generated images being used to advertise local events here in Rockland county.

There’s something anti-human happening here. Many will say it’s not that deep. AI generated images are much less expensive than hiring a professional artist, graphic designer, or animator which many community events or small businesses don’t have the funds to afford. However, I believe we’re at risk of losing something of ourselves while saving a buck.

First of all, you absolutely do not have to hire a professional. I would much rather see a clunky design made by an amateur than an AI generated image. Generated images read to me as entirely unprofessional and lazy. Amateur design, however, is beautifully human. You can see the human touch in those images, and in an era with so much generated design there is something relentlessly charming about a slightly unprofessional looking flyer clearly made by a person. You can almost imagine someone on Photoshop painstakingly crafting an image for their community event or business when looking at them.

I feel like we are at risk of dumbing down connections between people through generative AI use. Generative AI can create works that seem clean and professional, but ChatGPT and other image generators produce images with a certain look about them that scream “a computer made me” creating a disconnect between an advertiser and their audience. I personally am less likely to support a business or institution that uses generative AI. Besides the obvious environmental factors at play like the eating up of resources like water and electricity, the designs often do not look good. You can see strange mistakes in those images like the number of fingers on a hand or disconnected branches on a tree that take an image from clean design and into the realm of the uncanny valley.

Across Rockland, I’ve seen AI generated images used to promote all sorts of local events and businesses. I won’t be naming specifics as I don’t want anyone to feel targeted, but I feel deeply disappointed whenever I see those images. I often ask myself what they did prior to the advent of generative AI, a technology that is a little over 5 years old and has been viable for professional use for even less time. Did they square away funds to hire a professional? Or did they simply create a given design in house, using basic skills on Photoshop or Illustrator? If it’s the latter, I think we ought to go back to that. I would much rather see a logo or poster that has been designed by a person with love and attention but looks clunky than a cold, heartless AI generated image that looks clean.

Art is the ultimate form of human expression. Even simple logos or advertisements that have been made with care can express an amount of emotional investment in a product that a computer generated image simply cannot. I don’t care if the design “looks bad” because what does that even mean? It’s simply more visually pleasing to see a “bad” design made by a person than a “good” design made by a machine.