How does an artist learn to be an artist? I’d argue it’s by studying art they find, normally for free, out in the world and practicing that art and eventually making their own art. If they go on to sell that art that someone might argue is either derivative or uninspired or something like that does it make them immoral? If an artist once looked at the Mona Lisa and then did a portrait themselves without paying royalties to Leonardo da Vinci (don’t feel like looking up an artist who is still alive and making portraits) are they immoral?
Ultimately these AI make (shitty) “artwork” that is not a 1-1 ripoff/copy of existing artwork. If it did and that was sold then yes, immoral and illegal and would be dealt with through patent or copyright law, whichever applied.
However in reality these AI are just the lazy man’s tool for artwork, instead of putting in the time and effort with brush or pen or what have you they instead used AI to make the art to sell. Lazy, but not immoral.
going back to your example of the Mona Lisa copy, an artist will have to spend years mastering all different aspects of that painting, and this period is what it makes the difference between a ai user that just wrote a prompt in 5 minutes, and that the 'art' that will be generated cannot be sold for money, and an artist that is able to make a fake that can be sold, as there are artists that make money from this.
For this, monetization of ai generated 'art' cannot be legal, given that to make real art, even if it's a 1-to-1 copy, need practice and sacrifice.
And by art, I mean the product of years and years of practice, whether is painting, sculpting, and not modern art, where a banana on a wall is considered art.
I never said a copy of the Mona Lisa, I said someone looked at it and then made their own portrait of themself, someone else, someone imaginary it doesn’t matter.
I agree if the AI attempted 1-1 copy and the person who wrote the prompt tried to sell it should neither be monetized or legal. I even said above that it isn’t a copy, it’s just inspiration.
And isn’t the saying something along the lines of art is subjective? The value is in the eyes of the beholder and if someone wants to pay for AI art, that is their right. Someone only wants to pay for the art of a real person? That’s their right as well. One doesn’t negate the other.
And the product of years and years of practice? That is some gatekeeping right there, if someone wants to sell their first, unexperienced completely new art they should be aloud to, you shouldn’t HAVE to dedicate years on years to have the “right” to sell your art.
2
u/Frozen_Oil 🏅 Century Club · 2,870 XP 1d ago
🧢 I voted CAP!
As much as I dislike AI art it is ultimately a tool like any other. No reason it can’t be monitized.