Artificial Intelligence should be nowhere near art

Growing up, I refused to let myself be called an artist in any capacity. It wasn’t because I was ashamed of the title itself, but rather because I always felt that I hadn’t achieved the level of blood, sweat and tears to be allowed to call myself a “true” artist. I’ve found this sort of humbleness and criticism of one’s own work is a common trend with most artists, regardless of their medium. Its almost a rite of passage, if you will. With the recent rise of content generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI), however, this rite of passage has been disgraced with an influx of people proudly calling themselves “AI artists.”

Although using AI to create content, such as art or music, may seem harmless in theory, it goes against the very core of what humanity is.

When it comes to AI, there are countless debates on when it should be used and how ethical its usage even is, considering that AI allows for nearly anything to be generated. From academic dishonesty in schools to the generation of fake videos supporting fake news, the reach and possibilities of AI are quite jarring to think about. To push it further, there is also the creation of disgusting content, such as AI-generated child sexual abuse material – which was ruled in late August by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit to be legal and protected under the First Amendment right.