Artists vs AI: Real art needs human touch, creatives say

Art has been around for as long as people have existed, maybe even longer. In Africa, traditional forms of art like pottery, basket weaving, carving, storytelling, music, and beadwork were made entirely by hand. This kind of original, handmade creativity is being celebrated today, on World Art Day, which also happens to be Leonardo da Vinci’s birthday.

The global theme this year is ‘A Garden of Expression: Cultivating Community Through Art.’ But the International Association of Art has chosen its theme: ‘Do No Algorithm’, highlighting that Artificial Intelligence (AI) cannot replace real human creativity.

AI has been spreading across different fields, raising a big question: What is the future of art now that machines can “create”?

Visual artist and curator Emaus Kimani believes art must have a human touch.

“For me, art must be made by a person. It should carry the thoughts and feelings of a human being. AI can copy styles, but it can’t truly create,” he says.

He sees AI as a tool, one that only becomes art when directed by a human.  “If a person uses AI to make something, that can count as art. But if AI creates something completely on its own, without any human input, it isn’t art,” he says.

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Emaus is cautious about using AI because of concerns over who owns the data and where his ideas might end up.

“I don’t hate AI, but I don’t trust it enough to use it. I’d be giving my ideas to a system that could misuse them,” he adds.

Artist Irene Opondo, who adds digital elements like augmented reality to her oil and acrylic  paintings, has tried AI tools but found them lacking. “AI takes data from different sources. It doesn’t understand the emotion or detail we want to express. And it mixes everyone’s ideas, so it’s not fair to the original creators,” she says.

She adds, “AI can only learn from what we make. Without traditional art, it has no source.”

Musician Anto Neosoul uses AI for research in his online projects but avoids it in his music or creative art. He worries that AI is replacing jobs and true creativity. “In Kenya, there are no strong laws to guide the use of AI. We now have AI-made adverts and songs, and that’s work taken from real people,” he says.

Anto believes that no machine can take the place of a real artist.

“True artists, those who create with their hands and minds – will always be remembered. Museums in the future will honour human art, not AI-made pieces,” he says.