Image: Oshun, The Tears of Wisdom, and The Priestesses by Delphine Diallo, courtesy of ArtTactic.
How is AI revolutionising the creative landscape?
In today's exclusive insight from Art, AI, and the Future of Creativity, created in partnership with ArtTactic, Marine Tanguy, CEO of MTArt Agency, discusses AI's impact on artistic creation, questions traditional ideas of originality and advocates for inclusivity in tech-driven art. Importantly, she also highlights the enduring importance of human vision and the opportunity for technology to make art more accessible and impactful - provided we actively shape it as an equitable tool.
At the age of 21, Marine Tanguy became Europe’s youngest gallery manager, and in 2015 - just three years later - she founded MTArt Agency, the first talent agency for artists. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, she champions art’s role in society through books, TEDx talks, and public projects, collaborating with global brands, institutions, and cities to transform spaces with art.
Read on for more...
How do you believe new technologies, like AI, are impacting traditional notions of originality and authenticity in art?
With all technologies and new tools, the best artists will find a way to work with them to create new artistic stories and bodies of work. It's worth noting that most artists who made art history didn't make their own work and had large studios to execute their masterpieces. I remember starting my degree at the University of Warwick reviewing the very long commission contracts that painters would receive to create altarpieces for various patrons and churches. These contracts are very similar to the prompts we write when using AI models like Gemini, Open AI and Midjourney to create visuals.
There lies the big question: is the authenticity in the execution and the vision? It's an endless debate as in the case of the altarpieces I mentioned which were prominent during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the patron would be responsible for their artistic vision over the artist and their studio. So, in the case of a Jeff Koons, are his works the product of his studio assistants, or Jeff Koons himself? I tend to argue for the artistic vision as I believe that in a world of tools, it's our creative input and the emotions we convey with it that makes us human.
Right now, AI is very good at recreating what you ask it to and mastering combinational creativity, but not yet coming up with any zeitgeist artistic content which we call transformational art. If we believe that artists are the zeitgeist of our time, human artistic vision is very valuable, and there is no sign that AI is anywhere near it.
Does AI help make art more accessible to the public? Why is this important, both artistically and societally?
It's worth noting that AI, with its 'bro culture' has a majority of male users. We are super proud at MTArt Agency to represent both male and female artists who use AI in their works: Ellie Pritts, Leo Caillard, Delphine Diallo, Don Diablo, Ivona Tau, Andrés Reisinger, Ouchhh and Asiko.
This is a really important point when answering this question. AI must be participatory and we have seen it with Wikipedia, a hugely accessible tech tool, that too often bro culture dictate what we believe in and see daily.
Right now, AI is filled with biases. If you asked both OpenAI and Midjourney to represent a caring person, you would only find images of young women - not a single picture of a man. On the other hand, if you ask OpenAI and Midjourney to represent a CEO all you will see are images similar to Richard Gere in Pretty Woman: white men overlooking their desk from a tall glass building. Participation is key to avoid yet another tool that reaches large audiences but carries deep biases.
As the author of Visual Detox, discussing our overconsumption of visuals, I also worry about the speed of which we will create and consume visuals with this technology. Right now, we are consuming 10,000 visuals everyday. The idea of adding any more to this huge number is not bearable for our brain.
Who truly owns the rights to AI-generated art: the artist/programmer or the AI itself?
Right now, most AI models do not protect the rights of the artists when they create art using them so I would highly recommend to look into exactly.ai, which guarantees their rights when training the model.
There’s a lot of fear surrounding AI’s impact on art. Is this fear justified, or should we adopt a more optimistic perspective?
I feel that there is fear on every topic right now. Outrage and fear are what make our social media and click bait culture reach higher engagement so let's not succumb to this fear.
Our artist Ellie Pritts has a rare condition which makes her unable to physically paint and AI has been her solace, the place where she can continue to be an artist. Innovation can be an enabler but as always with tools, if we are not informed enough or dare to participate, we are letting others shape our world for us so let's get involved!
So far, when it comes to the art market, technology has significantly broken down the barriers to entry, enabled more artists to derive revenues for their work and more audiences to access art on a daily basis. As a comparatively small sector (the art market is worth £65 billion in a £3.8 trillion visual sector), if we learn to embrace innovation, we could become a much larger art world and one that inspires millions rather than a few thousands a day.
I am always hopeful but knowledge and regulations are key. We need ethical AI tools that promote equity, protects the rights of artists and creatives and are accessible to all.
