Two to three years ago, when AI Art busted into the scene, I was quick to reassure Artists around me : “Current AI cannot be creative”.
As an AI researcher whose true passion is Art, I’ve gone into this on this Substack, in depth.
While this is correct, it misses the point.
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Realizing this, a week later, my reasoning was to say “while AI cannot be creative on its own, artists can be creative through it.”
While this is correct, it ALSO misses the point.
Today I will pose a question to you, that’ll completely change your appreciation of the future of Art.
If you read till the end, you will come out with a full understanding of the 3 categories of future art, and choose which one you want to make.
Effortless, endless propaganda and money
The plain truth is this:
Algorithms are ALREADY deciding what we consume in order to maximize our engagement, or “time well spent” as YouTube puts it. (This is the case for Youtube, Instagram, Spotify, TikTok, and yes, even Substack !!)
Moreover, countless channels on these websites are already fully automated, and yet gather hundreds of thousands, to millions of views. A Guardian analysis found 9 of the 100 fastest-growing YouTube channels (July 2025) were entirely AI-generated ! (see sources)
Consider the following move. A very simple step, as easy and predictable as a metronome’s next click.
The step is from :
(a) AI deciding which human-created videos we will most enjoy (already the case),
to :
(b) AI deciding what kind of movie script, or painting composition, we will most enjoy, and rendering it all on its own.
This is a very, very small step for AI. The only ingredient missing is a little more technical proficiency. So far, it isn’t advanced enough to fool us, and/or satisfy us fully with a hands-off process.
But in the future, of course it will take that step forward. The capitalists will look at the effortless, literally hands-off, unlimited generation of propaganda and money, with fiery eyes. They will insert their own biases in the models, and make you pay for their services. You’ll be hooked. And they won’t let any regulation or any moral qualms stop them.
A terrifying question
The question that I advertised at the start, the one that puts our reasoning to shame, is this :
“Do you even NEED creativity ?”
“Noch ein Jahrhundert Leser—und der Geist selber wird stinken.”
“Another century of readers—and spirit itself will stink.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883)
(another century of artists…)
While Nietzsche’s elitist stance isn’t for everyone, there are indeed many forces that have made art “stink”.
First, we live in a world of “mere style”. Before, artists strove to express a message, and be free-spirited, powerful cultural forces. Now, the ultimate achievement is to have forged one’s unique, distinctive style.
Second, the normalization of artist day jobs, where artists serve as fancy rendering machines for their bosses, has led to a decoupling of the technique of Art from the soul of Art. Over-specialization of artists, mass entertainment, money incentives, nihilism and materialism are all additional forces that I won’t go into for fear of sounding like an old man.
No, AI cannot be creative. Yes, people can be creative through it. But is that even required ?
If we don’t have any definition of art as more than mere entertainment and selfish, self-centered self-expression, then I’m afraid not.
What we need is a new definition of Art.
The hopeful turn : 3 types of future art
The future is heavily multifaceted. Anyone who claims to know exactly what’s going to happen, is pulling wool over your eyes.
There will be a great part of Art/Entertainment fully driven by AI, with no human behind it. This is almost certain, and this constitutes the first type of future Art.
The second type of future Art will be AI-driven, human art. Not forgetting Lumière’s Law, we must accept that genuine Artists will twist the AI into a new shape and create worthwhile, meaningful art. Some of you will even become God-artists, crafting a world for the new consciousness we are birthing.
Lastly, as geopolitical and ecological disaster create more uncertainty and suffering, and as AI shakes the foundations of reality, people will look for answers outside of science and computers. If we come prepared with our new definition of art, immune to AI, we will then become like cave painters, respected magicians and meaning-makers. Only through this renewal of “old, human art”, can we become again drivers of the whole ship. And this will be our masterpiece : the third form of future Art.
Like it or not, this is how things will turn out. Position yourself now, and make art with an eye to the future. Safeguard your legacy.
Do you with to be the savior of genuine, true art, or the founder of new movements and consciousnesses ? Your move.
And I’ll always be here, posting away to make sure the AI beast doesn’t surprise you.
till next time,
ArtPostAI
Sources :
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