In the rise of infinitely growing and accessible technology, art has had to continually renew what it means. Take the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy for example:

The definition of art is controversial in contemporary philosophy. Whether art can be defined has also been a matter of controversy. The philosophical usefulness of a definition of art has also been debated. There is also disagreement, at a second-order level, about how to classify definitions of art…Hybrid definitions aim to do justice to both the traditional aesthetic dimension as well as to the institutional and art-historical dimensions of art, while privileging neither.

First published Tue Oct 23, 2007; substantive revision Tue Aug 14, 2018

Can art be defined? I began asking these questions while writing Visionary Art: Vulnerability In, Interpretation of & Unanswered Questions: My final thoughts stating: “It’s quite interesting to see how art is critiqued based on the time of creation, the artist behind the piece and the personal viewer.” Taking a stance as the observer, not questioning further- is this considered art?

I now ask myself more often, not what is considered art - but rather, who is considered an artist? In a simple sense we could state all beings are artists and I myself indeed find this to be true. However us all having the chance to be artists does not mean that we have all spent time in a particular craft. Although, who’s to say the amount of time spent in a craft means that a prodigy with no experience is any less than?

Along with the rise of technology, how will we differentiate between AI art and human artists while also establishing a balanced relationship?

Social media was recently flooded with a plethora of digital avatars that friends were sharing of themselves. Many downloading the free app, Lensa AI, which to my surprise I discovered that you had to pay in order to receive the photos.

#humanartist and variations thereof have been trending on Twitter alongside this trend. Reminding that while the digital art space is rapidly expanding and becoming more accessible, there are still real artist behind these screens, creating and open to commissions.

“Here is a collection of relatively modern or currently working artists that they advertise as styles to steal on their site(there are hundreds of others).”

- RJ Palmer @arvalis

While Lensa itself may not be liable for copyright infringement, it is one of the many AI models pushing the limits of what is acceptable on a mass level in the digital art space. And although these apps have become more easily accessible to the masses, “we should ask: Should it be allowed to use every artwork out there to train AI models to imitate artists’ unique styles so closely? … How far should the copyright extend given the use of copyrighted artwork for these new technologies?” says Cansu Canca, ethics lead for Northeastern’s Institute for Experiential AI.”

AI-generated art is not currently considered copyrightable, as AI is not legally viewed as an author.

“Shepard Fairey vs. The Associated Press is a great example of why you can't just take an image and alter it slightly without a licensing agreement.”

- Meg Rae @megrae

The AP-Shepard Fairey case left jurors questioning new legal rules about how much creative investment must be added to “transform” someone else’s work into your own. Their case ultimately settled in 2011 with Fairey agreeing to pay AP $1.6 million. And again in 2014 when The Associated Press demanded that George Zimmerman halt the sale of one of his paintings because ‘it directly copies an AP photo.’ Now in 2022, the legal landscape surrounding copyright and AI-generated content is evolving with questions about authorship and liability still being considered.

Bringing a further interesting point of discussion. When does authenticity become obsolete?

I cannot say I have any of the answers. If anything I have more questions and as always, more research to dive deeper into as we move further into these infinitely expansive, digital art, lawless territories.

Without Programs and A Computer, Would You Still Consider Yourself an Artist?