In a recent interview, renowned Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei expressed his belief that art created by artificial intelligence (AI) is “meaningless.” He argued that even celebrated artists like Picasso and Matisse would have had to rethink their approach if AI had been available during their time. Weiwei’s comments contribute to the ongoing debate surrounding AI technologies that scrape data from artists’ websites to produce “original” images in their style.
This controversial issue has led to several class-action lawsuits in the United States. Many artists, whose aesthetics are popular among AI users, have reported thousands of images that use their work as a base without permission. Weiwei dismissed this problem, stating that art relying on realism, which AI can easily replicate, should have died long ago. He believed that AI’s ability to reproduce such art in seconds renders the skills and knowledge artists have acquired meaningless.
When questioned about great masters like Picasso and Matisse, who had distinct styles such as cubism, Weiwei suggested that they would have likely abandoned their artistic endeavors in the face of AI’s capabilities. He emphasized that the rise of AI could lead to a society dominated by one correct answer, comparable to oppressive regimes like Nazi Germany or China’s Cultural Revolution.
Despite his skepticism about AI’s impact on art, Weiwei himself is engaging in a collaboration with AI for his next project titled “Ai vs AI.” In this endeavor, Weiwei and an AI will answer a list of 81 thought-provoking questions over 81 days. The queries will be projected on Piccadilly Circus’s big screen and shared globally. While Weiwei described this project as fun, he also expressed concerns about the future implications of AI if it becomes too influential and relied upon by governments worldwide.
Weiwei’s outspokenness and activism reflect his personal experiences growing up in labor camps in China and his unwavering criticism of the Chinese authorities. Recently, he was involved in a controversy over freedom of speech and the Israel-Gaza conflict, which led to the cancellation of an exhibition of his new works. Despite facing backlash, Weiwei remains committed to using art as a means of asking difficult questions and giving a voice to the voiceless.
As the debate about AI-generated art continues, artists and experts alike are left to ponder the implications of this rapidly advancing technology on the artistic landscape and the significance of human creativity in the face of artificial intelligence.