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Replace all artists? The strange logic of the AI art defenders

14 0
29.08.2025

Artists consider generative AI and its possibilities a looming existential threat. Rightfully so.

If it doesn’t risk a widespread obsolescence of artists, it certainly devalues them in the commercial space, threatening their livelihoods and undermining the already limited capacity to earn a living from creating art.

Artists are rather united across the board in maintaining that all too important human connection that links mind to creation. Use of AI art in the commercial sphere prompts backlash, and art communities are making it a point to reject its use regardless of what context it finds itself in.

However, elsewhere across the internet, there is a contingent that believes that the creation of AI art is not only an acceptable practice morally and creatively but also a positive and transformative development in itself. In some cases, it has turned into a distaste for the real-life human artist.

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One positive aspect of AI art, oft repeated by its defenders, is how it lowers the barrier of entry for non-artists – that the barrier that currently exists, and has always existed, is equivalent to artistic elitism and gatekeeping.

Someone who lacks technical skill or a craft can visually express an idea without any basis or training in art, so in the eyes of the defenders, AI........

© Herald Scotland