I was awarded a sabbatical for Spring 2025 to experiment with AI to see if it could help create Fine Art imagery for myself and for my students. Since the technology had been developing so rapidly and the concerns so broad I kept an open mind until I had the time to better investigate it all. Generally speaking the project was carried out in four parts.
1) Experiment with various AI image tools and processes to find effective workflows.
2) Use those workflows with my professional work to see if it's possible to create novel Imagery with AI.
3) Research the various social impacts and possible solutions.
4) Create various lectures, guides, and assignments on both the social impacts and better ways of using AI.
In summary the history of art is also the history of new technologies like the printing press, the camera, the internet, and now AI. I did find ways of using AI as a tool to create novel work but that it is dramatically easier when starting with strong work. It is an amazing technology with the primary breakthrough for Art being a hyper speed 'sketching' tool. Like gunpowder and oil AI is now a reality. The more I looked into it the more I realize that it is less that AI causes new problems but more accurately that AI is making the problems we already have more obvious. As I see it anger and fear of AI should be channeled more pragmatically to handle it -before it handles us. There are ways of doing this but we do not know how much harm will come before effective action is taken.
1) Experiment with various AI image tools and processes to find effective workflows.
2) Use those workflows with my professional work to see if it's possible to create novel Imagery with AI.
3) Research the various social impacts and possible solutions.
4) Create various lectures, guides, and assignments on both the social impacts and better ways of using AI.
In summary the history of art is also the history of new technologies like the printing press, the camera, the internet, and now AI. I did find ways of using AI as a tool to create novel work but that it is dramatically easier when starting with strong work. It is an amazing technology with the primary breakthrough for Art being a hyper speed 'sketching' tool. Like gunpowder and oil AI is now a reality. The more I looked into it the more I realize that it is less that AI causes new problems but more accurately that AI is making the problems we already have more obvious. As I see it anger and fear of AI should be channeled more pragmatically to handle it -before it handles us. There are ways of doing this but we do not know how much harm will come before effective action is taken.
