Why Does All AI Art Look Like That?

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the challenges and limitations of AI-generated art, drawing on the author's personal experiences in art school and observations of their classmates' work. It highlights how AI-generated art often lacks the fundamental artistic skills and techniques that are developed through rigorous training and practice.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Challenges and Limitations of AI-Generated Art

1. What are the key issues with AI-generated art identified in the article?

• Uniform texture: AI-generated art often has a plastic-like, overly smooth or busy texture, lacking the nuanced rendering of different materials that human artists develop.
• Incompetent anatomy: AI art frequently depicts anatomical inaccuracies, such as incorrect number of fingers or disproportionate body parts.
• Lack of perspective: AI art lacks a sense of depth, with everything appearing flat and lacking dimensionality, atmosphere, and foreshortening.
• Flat camera angle: AI-generated art is typically composed from a static, eye-level perspective, unable to depict different camera angles or viewpoints.
• Indistinguishable lighting: The lighting in AI art is often unclear, with no clear source or contrast, resulting in a diffuse, overcast appearance.
• Muddled details: AI art struggles to handle the nuances of how different elements in a composition interact, leading to blending and obscuring of details.

2. How does the author contrast the limitations of AI-generated art with the skills developed through art school training?

• The author recounts their experience in life drawing classes, where students learned the fundamentals of art, such as rendering texture, anatomy, perspective, and lighting, through rigorous practice and critique.
• The author contrasts this with a classmate who initially produced derivative, traced artwork, but later developed vibrant, dynamic figures with a sense of volume, texture, and perspective through their art school training.
• The author suggests that for AI art to reach a level of convincing "real art," it would require someone to take the time to teach the AI system how to create art, not just trace, copy, and manipulate existing artwork.

3. What is the author's overall perspective on the current state and future potential of AI-generated art?

• The author is skeptical that AI art will ever reach the level of "real art" without significant advancements in the underlying technology and a deeper understanding of the fundamental artistic skills and techniques.
• The author suggests that the proponents of AI art should "slow their roll" and recognize the importance of learning the fundamentals of art, rather than rushing to replace human artists.
• The author acknowledges that AI art may improve over time, but believes that it will require someone to intentionally teach the AI system how to create art, rather than just relying on the current limitations of the technology.

[02] Lessons from Art School

1. What insights does the author share about their own experience in art school?

• The author recounts their time in art school, where they, like their classmates, had to take challenging life drawing classes that focused on the fundamentals of art, such as rendering texture, anatomy, perspective, and lighting.
• The author acknowledges that these classes were often "extremely technical and extremely boring," but recognized their importance in developing the core skills necessary for any artistic medium, including the author's own interest in sequential art (comics).

2. How does the author's experience with their classmate's artwork reflect the challenges of learning artistic fundamentals?

• The author describes a classmate who initially produced derivative, traced artwork, which the professor critiqued in a "firm but nice" manner, highlighting the lack of original skills and techniques.
• The author notes that this experience was likely the first time the classmate had received such direct feedback on the shortcomings of their work, which can be a difficult but necessary part of the learning process.
• However, the author later observed the classmate's work during their senior year, noting that the figures had become "vibrant and dynamic," demonstrating the growth in their artistic skills and understanding of fundamentals through their art school training.

3. How does the author's perspective on the role of art school training relate to the current state of AI-generated art?

• The author suggests that the proponents of AI art should recognize the importance of learning the fundamentals of art, rather than rushing to replace human artists.
• The author believes that for AI art to reach a level of "convincing real art," it would require someone to intentionally teach the AI system how to create art, not just rely on the current limitations of the technology.
• The author's personal experience in art school highlights the value of rigorous training and practice in developing the core artistic skills and techniques that are often lacking in AI-generated art.