What Does the Future of Art Look Like in the Age of AI?
This is a question I've been thinking about for a while now.
When the camera came out in the early 20th century people worried of the repercussions on artists. They thought people would stop painting and it will be the end of the entire discipline. Of course, at the time they were referring to realistic paintings because that's mostly the only type of paintings anyone did!
The role of an artist was to accurately reflect the world through images so logically they all tried to be as accurate as possible learning perspective and the like.
From the beginning of history until the introduction of the camera, you could track the progress of artistic processes through the lens of "artists learning better techniques over time to get as close to reality as possible."
But then once the camera was invented, artists changed course. Their role was to accurately reflect the world but they interpreted that more loosely. Cubism, pop-art, and others became the forefront of artistic expression. And crucially, people didn't stop painting realistic works. In fact, most artists still learned realism as a pre-requisite for more experimental genres.
Warning: This is where the speculation comes in.
AI is changing how easy it is to make a book, a movie, or a song. Let's take the example of a song. It is now incredibly easy to make a song with AI. But what will most human musicians do given a lot of the work can be automated? I think there will be new genres of music that emerge alongside existing ones that inherently can only be done by humans. What do I mean by this? I think performances will take on even more importance than they already have. But in more abstract and unique ways following the same path visual arts took in the 20th century.
One way this could happen is a blurring of the boundary between audience and performer. We see examples of this today with Jacob Collier concerts where he uses the audience as an instrument, a choir of sorts. Same thing goes for that guy who sang "Don't Worry, Be Happy." He has a viral video of using the audience as instruments. Imagine a world where there is no delineation between stage and audience and the musician is more akin to a conductor instructing different subsections of the audience to sing choral arrangements on different parts of the stage. Imagine if different parts of the audience are instructed to wear different colored clothing and the musician instructs people to hold up different signs and dance patterns to create a beautiful, harmonious visual experience as well. What separates this from an AI musician is that the process of making the music is the product.
But instead, more people are involved in that music-making process now. The art becomes more experiential. "You had to be there" becomes the calling card of artistic expression. It is more humanistic in nature, because the purpose is to be involved. Not to consume, but to co-create.
The American economy went from a product-based to a predominantly service-based economy and yet art is still very product-oriented. Sell X books, X number of streams, etc. A more service-oriented approach focuses on the artist's ability to create an experience people are willing to pay for, a vibe they can't get by themselves.
Mosh pits are another example of how the experiential nature of performance art is prized above the consumptive. It is through being in the room, getting shoved around that you experience the music. We go to these shows and spend hundreds of dollars because there is value in being in communion with other humans.
Okay, so you're just saying everything will become performance art? Or okay well that works for musicians but not visual artists?
I think the visual arts could bring a renewed focus on beautifying our everyday life. The rise of self-expressive fashion, the end of the male renunciation, and more innovative accessories. Also, a beautification of our physical spaces as well. There are markets for everything including beauty. Once our material needs are met, we can focus on beautifying the facades of every building for example. Even though we can see photos of the Eiffel tower and Paris we go in person more so now than ever before.