Refik Anadol creates art using artificial intelligence by training custom machine learning models to visualize machine hallucinations, or dreams. Photo courtesy of Refik Anadol.
If a San Luis Obispo High School student were to scroll through a hundred posts on any social media platform, they would expect to see about ten videos made with artificial intelligence, at most. They would be shocked to learn that approximately twenty percent of all videos are made with artificial intelligence. In fact, it’s predicted that nearly ninety percent of all videos will likely be AI-generated in the future.
Many students dislike this side of social media, as the sloppy videos, also known as AI slop, feel unnatural and, at times, can feel uncanny. However, is it possible for students to apply the power of artificial intelligence while also innovating, or will it always be perceived as a shortcut?
“As an art lover, one of my favorite artists, Refik Anadol, uses AI in his artwork in an ethical way to transform curated data into algorithms. I think one of the key things about AI art, and its use, is how we go about avoiding plagiarism, and I think he does that very well. AI can be something beautiful if we know how to harness it in an ethical way,” said sophomore Helen White.
Some use artificial intelligence, but don’t let it do all the work for them. They use it supplementally, and merely utilize it to turn their thoughts into reality. Some would argue that this example directly displays a lack of creativity. Others believe that conceiving a prompt is creativity itself.
“AI art can be good. I have seen people use it to make music and art, although there are people who make some random videos. AI art can be creative, as the user needs to apply a creative prompt for AI to use. Creativity goes in to make the idea, AI just makes it real,” said sophomore Austin Asquith.
Others think AI art could be beneficial when it comes to casual, recreational purposes. However, some believe that professional use is uncreative and lazy.
“I think it can be good, but I think it can be bad at the same time. I feel like, for me, I’m not very talented in drawing, art, and that kind of stuff. So I feel like it’d be good when I need to draw something. It would be great to be able to put in the prompt, and it gave me art. But I don’t think it should replace professional artists. I think it’s uncreative because you’re really just typing words into it, and you can always create new art with AI if you just string together five random words that have no correlation,” said sophomore Collin Heying.
In essence, the use of artificial intelligence is positive in some cases. In others, it can be harmful to the natural creativity and innovative tendencies of the mind. Is artificial intelligence destined to homogenize the human race, Tigers?
