What's An AI Artist?

AI artists have been causing quite a stir in the world of art in recent years. But who exactly are they and can AI create real art? This is what we’ll discuss in this blog post.

We’ll also discuss what AI art is, what AI artists are, and how they use technology to create AI art.

What Is AI Art?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science that is concerned with creating machines that accurately mimic human cognition and learning.

Therefore, AI art refers to any artwork made with the help of AI and computer algorithms. This can include digital paintings, videos, animations, and even music.

Can AI Create Real Art?

Well, the answer to this question depends on your understanding of what art is.

Some of you may argue that AI art isn’t “true art” because art has to be emotional, come from a place within you, and act as a means of expressing yourself. 

Since these AI art-generating algorithms aren’t coded to have emotions, one could argue that they can’t create real art.

For other people, however, art doesn’t always have to be emotional. It simply needs an audience that relates to it and appreciates it. Therefore, AI art can be seen as true art because it can be used to build an audience. It can also be sold on NFT marketplaces, making it a good way to generate an income. 

What Is An AI Artist?

In simple words, artists who utilise AI technology to produce art are referred to as “AI artists.” 

During the last few decades, many programmers (or artists) have produced computer programs to create art. The process used to involve the artist writing detailed and complicated code with a preferred visual outcome in mind.

Harold Cohen — who created the program AARON in 1973 that could create drawings by following a set of rules — is one of the earliest practitioners of this form of art and could be considered one of the first AI artists.

However, AI artists today don’t use algorithms that simply follow a set of rules. Instead, AI technology now can “learn” specific art styles by examining thousands of art pieces. The AI then attempts to create new art according to the art style it has learned. 

The first step in this process involves the artist choosing a library of images to feed the algorithms. This step is often referred to as “pre-curation.”

Most of the AI art created over the last few years has utilised a class of algorithms known as Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs). These algorithms are referred to as “adversarial” because they have two sides to them. 

One side creates random images, while the other has been taught to judge these creations and determine how closely they resemble the input given by the AI artist.

For instance, an artist could feed thousands of portraits from the past century into an algorithm. The AI would then attempt to imitate these inputs, producing a variety of output artworks. 

The AI artist must then go through the outputs and select the one they want to use. This step is referred to as “post-curation.”

Throughout the entirety of this process, the artist plays an active role. They are fully involved in the pre- and post-curation stages and might even have to modify the algorithm to create the desired output. 

Fortunately, you don’t have to go through these complex pre- and post-curation steps to get started with AI art. There are many free AI generators available online, such as ours, that do a great job. They already have powerful algorithms and databases built into them that do most of the work for you. 

Once you get good at using these, you can sell art generated by AI in the form of NFTs without requiring any coding skills at all.