Sometimes I feel a lot of despair, surrounded by more and more AI creation. Commercials. Animation for the Olympics. Every single person on social media who gets to see what they look like “if an artist painted them,” with no artist involved. I get a little sick to my stomach, to be honest.

This kind of painless, effortless creation seems to be the new dominant way to make art. As Agent Smith might say, “It is inevitable.”

But then……..

Several times recently, I have been aware of how truly MOVED I was by something in a film or musical performance or handmade art. And I asked myself why it moved me. 

I think it’s because many times I have witnessed a messy, real moment that may originally have even been a “mistake,” but was wisely curated into the finished work. It’s something the artist didn’t plan but just “happened.“ Something harvested from the process, which the artist / director / actor would say came seemingly “out of nowhere.” But it actually came from instinct, from the fruition of their experience, from the process of MAKING the thing. Real art and genuine performances are the end result of the process. That’s very different than deciding on the end result of the work, and asking AI to meet you there at the intended end result.

There is no way to replicate that kind of art unless a human goes through an experience and shares it. 

So then I have hope again.