Philip Jong

Artistic creativity has long been a defining trait of the human species. Since the advent of civilization, the creation of art has been a measure of human spirit and imagination through which human intellect is expressed. In a painting, for example, a painter’s creativity is conveyed solely through a deliberate application of pigments on a canvas by the painter. With recent advancements in artificial intelligence, however, a new form of generative art has challenged the conventional paradigm of artistic expression when a computer algorithm can now be used in part or in whole to create the artwork. Artificial neural networks employing different models of machine learning, such as those used in DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion, are being trained to develop complex algorithms with which an artist can use to direct with ease the creation of a generative image. Because the resultant artwork no longer uniquely represents the artist’s vision since it can be perfectly replicated or regenerated, critics are calling into question the originality of generative art in how it degrades the essence of artistic creation. On the other hand, proponents argue that generative algorithm is merely another tool akin to a paintbrush which an artist can use to paint on a digital canvas. While generative art will unlikely herald the end of human artistic creativity, the utility of its practice needs to be weighed carefully to ensure that it will not stifle or trivialize artistic endeavors that have historically defined human culture.