AI as artistic collaborator
The Artist and the Algorithm
We've entered an age where AI and artists are in conflict.
When a computer can generate a painting of any kind in seconds, what happens to the value of the artist?
Yes, there will always be people who prefer something made by human hands—just like some choose a handmade table over one from Ikea.
But there's no denying it: the commercialization of art is shifting. Why would someone commission a piece of digital art when they can get one instantly?
Reframing the Threat
It's an uncomfortable tectonic shift—but knowing it’s happening can also empower us. The new technology is too powerful to resist. So why not collaborate with it instead?
Rather than see AI as a threat to our art, we can treat it as a tool—an amplifier of our expression, not a competitor to it.
Becoming the Tool
Any new collaboration has a learning curve. When our tools—paintbrush, keyboard, microphone—become extensions of ourselves, we have to undergo a transformation. Our identity merges with the tool and begins to feel like an extension of the self. We have to figure out how to integrate, how to work together toward a shared vision.
Our role as artists may shift. We may need to become both implementers and orchestrators—collaborating with tools and agents that take our work and evolve it further. Our craft may spill into new realms beyond our primary medium.
From Blog to Gallery
I’ve started to see that in my own work. For example: what if I could turn this blog into an art gallery?
This blog actually began in collaboration with AI. ChatGPT helped me scaffold the platform, and it’s served as my editor for most posts. In August 2024, I had the idea to incorporate image generation—to invite another AI into the process.
So for each post, I create a prompt for an abstract expressionist painting based on its content. I send that prompt to an image generation model, and each post ends with a visual interpretation of the writing.
Now with over 350 posts, the sheer volume is... not really meant to be consumed all at once. The packaging matters. The presentation matters.
So I created a collage page—a visual timeline of the evolving artwork. But even that didn’t feel like enough.
Then I had a vision: what if a room existed where every generated image was framed and displayed on the walls? Under each one, a small white placard with the title and a QR code linking to the original post.
It would offer a different way to engage. Instead of starting with the intellect, we could lead with curiosity. A person might feel drawn to a particular image—and only then discover the writing behind it.
Invitation Forward
This is how I plan to use AI to augment myself as an artist. I’m not a painter. I suppose I can call myself a writer now. But my primary mode of expression has always been music. And still, AI helps me blur the lines between all these forms.
So I remind myself—and invite you, too: treat AI as a collaborator, not a threat. Avoiding this new tooling will be like avoiding the internet when it first arrived. It opens a new frontier for expression and possibility.
AI isn’t just a new tool—it’s a new mirror. A new brush. A new way to express.
Let’s not step back. Let’s step in.
