AI continues to grow, but how could it affect local artists?

The use of artificial intelligence for artistic renderings, research and writings has been a hot topic for a couple years now.

It seems like every day there is a new piece of AI technology, and that can be hard to navigate. In artist spaces, AI has especially become a topic of discussion - both positive and negative.

For local Manning artist Dominique Hodge, AI lacks the emotion and intention his art requires.

"I've been working in the arts most of my adult life; it's really all I've ever wanted to do, honestly," Hodge said. "Seeing this AI concept come into play, it's interesting because you think about something that you've always dreamed of doing, all you've ever wanted to do, and now you have people who have never thought about art like, 'oh, well, we could just mass produce it.'"

Hodge is a visual artist whose art has a focus on afrofuturism. Looking at older science fiction and fantasy media, which Hodge frequents, there is a lack of Black characters or just one "token" Black character. Afrofuturism is an artistic style that pulls from the past but also places Black people in the future, showing that "we are all-encompassing," Hodge said.

"It seems like Hollywood has always had a way of removing us from pictures and artwork, for that matter," Hodge remarked.

It wasn't until college that Hodge saw Black people represented in art. Now, he makes his own afrofuturistic art that focuses on the Black experience, not just in the modern day, but as it transcends time and space.

The bottom line is, Hodge has spent a while building his style, working to perfect it and his concepts. He saw a future exempt of Black people and built something different. That is why he teaches elementary art, so students don't have to wait until college to see themselves represented in the art world.

Now, AI can make art in seconds. Carefully thought-out concepts like Hodge's can become a reality almost immediately. Some even think of AI art as art theft.

"I know that there's all sorts of people who feel very strongly vehemently against artificial intelligence, especially in the arts, and I can absolutely appreciate their concern, their worry," Curator and Assistant Director of Sumter County Gallery of Art Eric Lachance said. "You know, some of the bad things are that it's learning through material that is posted online, so it's appropriating people's words, essentially, to train this large model. So, from a perspective of plagiarizing, I can absolutely appreciate the worry, the anger, coming from creatives who have seen that they're essentially teaching artificial intelligence without the permission granted."

But for Lachance, and even Hodge, there is a different side to AI. Both have heard from artists about how AI can be used as a tool. Maybe an artist does not know how a concept would look and needs a jump start. Lachance said a photographer told him he used ChatGPT to help him title his showcase that was showing at the gallery. When speaking of AI as a tool for artists, Lachance compared it to a calculator, saying the devices "demystified math."

Many people have a different opinion on AI and when it's all right to use versus when it is not, while some have zero opinions on AI's use. To Hodge, it's all about intention.

"AI is a tool like anything else, but I feel it also kind of depends on whose hands it's in," Hodge said. "So, for example, from someone who pursues art as a profession there's study, skill, all that experience that has to go into developing quality artwork. So, an artist [may use] AI as a tool to assist them with something, but they've still taken time out to learn the fundamentals like the elements of art, the principles of design, who have put in years of work and experience."

However, for those who have taken no time to pursue art and use AI to generate "full artistic concepts," Hodge says he sees where that may be a trickier situation.

Hodge says it's the artist who makes art unique. For example, in his classes, he will give his students the same prompt just to show them how the same tools can make different concepts and designs. But when an AI piece of art is mass produced, Hodge said it can be soulless.

For now, it is still a little early to know how exactly AI will affect artists in the long run, but no matter how it is used, it is here to stay.

"As far as AI goes, it's here, and I think we just have to acclimate ourselves to it and go about it the right way," Hodge said. "I don't believe you can unring a bell, so it's here now - it's going to be part of the future, so we just have to adapt to it as a society, arts included."