The tiresome argument that generative AI can make art more accessible has been made in many variations. What I mean by generative AI is the section of AI that can use generative models to produce, e.g., images. Some argue that generative AI allows people to do art faster, and therefore still have time for everyday chores. Others argue that generative AI will give more opportunities to people with disabilities. I argue that both of these perspectives are wrong. I make this argument in twofold: (1) not having time to make art is not a reason to use generative AI for it, and (2) people with disabilities don’t need generative AI to make art.
Art takes time. Oil paintings, sculptures, and illustrations—digital or traditional—all take hours, days, weeks, or longer. Sometimes the process of creation is continuous; other times it happens in spurts. Either way, it takes time. Supporters of AI art will say that the quick method of generative AI art—typing in words to generate an image—makes it more accessible to people who don’t have time to create. I could see why people believe this. People have jobs and other duties—chores to get done, dishes to take care of, social lives to live—they don’t have time to sit down in front of a canvas, a mound of clay, or a drawing tablet and create.
The lack of time for art is an issue, but not one that should be solved by generative AI. It takes the fun out of the art; the experience, the process, is what’s enjoyable. Sadly, it isn’t for everyone. You don’t have a claim on becoming a mathematician, a doctor, or any other sort of profession; so why an artist? It is a profession, like any other, which people spend their lives working on and perfecting. I believe that everyone should have the opportunity to go down that path, and in an ideal world, everyone would have the resources for such exploration, but to go on to actually do it, to excel in it, is not something that will be handed to you on a silver platter. Art, just like any other skill, takes practice, and practice takes time.
Then there is the idea that AI art will make creating art more accessible to people with disabilities. I think that this is a patronizing argument at the very least. When I think of this argument, I can’t help but think about the innovation of artists with disabilities; about Auguste-Pierre Renoir, who tied brushes to his arthritic hand, and Paul Smith, who, while living with cerebral palsy, typed with one finger on a typewriter to create images. In their cases, as well as many others, art has found a way. Many artists keep creating, even when the tools they are given don’t perfectly fit their needs. Instead of focusing on generative AI to help artists with disabilities, we can find new ways to include them in the creation process. We should make tools that could be handled by all kinds of artists, not give up on them by excluding them from the process.
Some may argue that generative AI is the new tool that can help artists with disabilities. This would look past my prior argument that the enjoyment of art comes from the process, but to them I say that we can make adaptive grips and holders for pencils and brushes, adapted scissors, one-finger cutters, wheelchair lap trays, et cetera, et cetera. There are even AI toolsthat could be used to help people identify colors or describe photos (this is not the generative AI that I have spoken of in this article). If generative AI is the only tool that we can find for artists with disabilities, then we have truly lost all creativity. Using generative AI to create “art” is nothing but laziness.
The argument that generative AI will make art more accessible for others is, from an artist’s perspective, incomprehensible to me. The purpose of AI is, at the very least, to do the tasks that we find tedious, not the things that we enjoy doing. Art is an enjoyable hobby for some and an inspiring profession for others. Do not take this and drain the passion and creativity from it so that you can wow your peers with something that you “made” at the click of a few buttons. If you want artwork done and don’t want to learn, then commission artists to do it for you.
Writer: Siri Thiwång, administrator & media manager
This is an opinion piece in Qualia. The writer is responsible for their opinoins.