Artwork

When AI first transitioned from being a curiosity to being popular for creating artwork, something about it was deeply unsettling. The environmental concerns, the proliferation of data centers, the agressive push to require usage while still playing whack-a-mole with methods to circumvent guardrails, the copyright concerns - all of those were real and more than convincing concerns, but there was also something deeper.

And then I saw this image:

And something in me finally understood.

This image was posted by Twitter user DonnelVillager, with the caption:

The story behind this painting is so sad! 😢
Now using AI we can complete what he couldn't finish! ❤️

I find the discussions about whether or not the images AI produce count as art frustrating. There is a feeling that allowing AI art to be called art is equivalent to calling it acceptable. Art can be bad, it can be offensive, it can be morally bankrupt, it can be vapid, it can be "content" more than art. But it is still art. It can still evoke emotions, even if those emotions are anger, disgust, frustration, dealing with the knowledge that another person, another human being just like you, believed this to be acceptable.

This piece evoked a great deal of emotions in me. The original, Unfinished Painting by Keith Haring, is a viscerally powerful piece of artwork.