WEATHERING THE STORM: Surviving AI

Structure done with ink, nibs and human brain.

We have been through this before. Not in the same way, exactly, but in 2008, we hit a very tricky patch and many artists who were not up to scratch did not make it through the GFC with their careers intact. Either through lack of flexibility or simply having had a too-easy ride beforehand, there were fewer of us after than before. It was not easy for any of us, and the gravy train was very much done after the crisis. Given the current upheaval of having the entire carpet seemingly ripped from under us as creatives, one point of difference may be this:  To be a traditional artist still standing once this swell has passed, may have significant value, the same way in which there was a fear during the digital illustration boom of the 2000s that there would be no more room for traditional illustration.

These things move in cycles and as much as the current zeitgeist would have us believe that this is wholesale replacement of human art, it is more likely going to be a collective lowering of standards for some time. If those of us willing (and able) to hold out manage to do so, I believe there will be a return and a resurgence of that individual human touch in art. If everything flows towards the tepid middle, the way it has no choice but to with the nature of generative AI models, the spark of true human originality will be so much brighter and more appealing. It won’t be easy. It’s going to fucking hurt and I cannot fathom the human damage that will be incurred from lost employment and the mental toll of being devalued overnight (I know I’m feeling it). And I don’t mean in the art world; I mean collectively across all affected industries. This is a moment and this too shall pass. We will likely not return to the way things were before, but by the same token we will see new and unexpected developments that no models or projections can currently predict. If nothing else, humans will still be humans. Unpredictable and messy and infinitely more appealing than automated (or autonomous) systems. Here's to the future. Hang in there. I’ll still be here doing what I do. (Note: I may be wrong, but I refuse to go down the road of despair. That requires no work, only surrender. And that’s not happening.)