Is AI Taking Over the Art World? Not So Fast, Says a Top Expert!
Hello everyone, John here! If you’ve been following the news lately, you’ve probably heard a lot of chatter about Artificial Intelligence, or AI. It seems like every day there’s a new AI that can write stories, create stunning pictures, or even compose music. It’s all very exciting, but it also leads to a big, slightly scary question: Will AI replace human artists?
It’s a valid concern. Will filmmakers, musicians, and designers soon be out of a job? Well, I recently came across the thoughts of someone right in the thick of it, Josh Davies, an executive at a company called Artlist. And his take on it is not only reassuring, but it also turns the whole idea on its head. He argues that AI actually needs artists, much more than the other way around. Let’s break down what he means in a way that’s easy to understand.
First, Let’s Meet Our Expert
So, who is this Josh Davies guy? He’s the CINO at a company called Artlist. Artlist is a huge online library full of high-quality, royalty-free music, sound effects, and video clips that creators (think YouTubers, filmmakers, and advertisers) use for their projects.
Lila: “Hang on, John. C-I-N-O? That sounds like a character from a sci-fi movie! What does that mean?”
John: That’s a great question, Lila! It does sound futuristic. CINO stands for Chief Innovation Officer. Think of it like this: a CEO (Chief Executive Officer) is the main boss running the company today. A CINO’s job is to think about the future. They look at new technologies, like AI, and figure out how the company can use them to create new, exciting things for their customers down the road. So, Josh’s whole job is to think about how AI will change the creative world.
Because his company, Artlist, works directly with thousands of human artists and creators, his perspective is incredibly valuable. He’s not just an AI expert; he’s an expert in the business of creativity.
The Surprising Truth: AI Is the Student, Not the Master
Here’s the main point Josh makes, and it’s a big one: AI is not an artist. AI is a student of art.
Imagine an AI that creates images. To learn how to do that, engineers have to show it millions, or even billions, of images created by humans. It studies paintings by Van Gogh, photos by Ansel Adams, and illustrations from countless graphic designers. It learns patterns, styles, and connections. When you ask it to “create a picture of a cat in space in the style of a cartoon,” it’s not using its imagination. It’s mashing together everything it learned from all the cat pictures, space pictures, and cartoons it was shown.
Think of it like a student chef who has memorized every cookbook on Earth. They know thousands of recipes and techniques. But they’ve never tasted food, never felt the joy of sharing a meal with friends, and never had a sudden, brilliant idea for a new flavor combination while walking through a market. The student chef can follow instructions perfectly, but they can’t create something truly new from the heart. The real chef, the human artist, is the one who writes the cookbooks in the first place. Without human art, the AI would have a blank library and nothing to learn from.
Think of AI as a Creative Co-Pilot, Not the Captain
So if AI isn’t the artist, what is it? Josh suggests we think of it as a powerful new tool, or even better, a “creative co-pilot.” Its job is to help, not to take over the controls. A great pilot is still in charge of the plane, but the co-pilot can handle navigation, checklists, and communications, freeing up the pilot to focus on flying safely and smoothly.
Lila: “Okay, I think I get it. So you’re talking about that ‘Generative AI’ I’ve seen in the headlines? The one that makes stuff?”
John: Exactly, Lila! Generative AI is just a fancy term for any AI that can generate (or create) new content, whether that’s text, images, or music, based on the instructions you give it. And this is where it becomes a fantastic co-pilot for real artists.
Here are a few ways this works:
- For a Filmmaker: Instead of spending hours listening to hundreds of songs to find the right one for a scene, a filmmaker could just tell an AI, “Find me a hopeful, gentle piano track that slowly builds in intensity.” The AI can search a massive library like Artlist’s in seconds and give them a perfect starting point.
- For a YouTuber: Need a quick graphic for your video thumbnail? You could describe it to an AI, and it could generate a few options for you to then tweak and perfect yourself. It saves time on the boring stuff so you can spend more time on scripting and filming.
- For a Musician: A songwriter experiencing writer’s block could ask an AI to generate a few simple chord progressions or drum beats to get their creative juices flowing. It’s not writing the song for them; it’s just helping them get past that first hurdle.
In every case, the human is still the director. They have the vision, the idea, and the final say. The AI is just a super-fast and efficient assistant.
The ‘Secret Ingredient’ AI Is Missing: You!
At the end of the day, there are some things that are uniquely human. Josh’s argument rests on the idea that true art has a secret ingredient that an AI can never replicate: lived experience and intent.
An AI doesn’t have a childhood. It’s never felt heartbreak, or the joy of seeing a beautiful sunset, or the complex mix of emotions at a wedding. Art comes from that messy, beautiful, and completely human place. An AI can mimic the *style* of a sad song, but it can’t feel the sadness that inspired it.
Here’s what humans bring to the table that AI can’t:
- Authentic Emotion: We create art to express something deep inside us. That authenticity is what connects with an audience on an emotional level.
- Intent and Story: An artist has a message, a story they want to tell. Every choice—every color, every musical note, every camera angle—is made with purpose to serve that story. An AI just combines patterns without understanding the “why.”
- Happy Accidents: Sometimes, the best art comes from mistakes. A painter might spill a drop of paint that leads to a whole new idea. A guitarist might play a “wrong” note that sounds surprisingly perfect. AI is often designed to avoid mistakes, not embrace them. It sticks to the patterns it knows.
True creativity isn’t just about rearranging what already exists. It’s about creating something new from your unique perspective on the world. That’s the artist’s magic, and no computer program can fake it.
A Few Final Thoughts
John’s Take: I find this perspective from Josh Davies incredibly refreshing. It moves the conversation away from “us vs. them” and towards “us *with* them.” I truly believe AI is just the next great tool in the artist’s toolkit, like the invention of the camera or the electric guitar. These things didn’t replace painters or classical musicians; they just opened up entirely new ways to be creative. The future isn’t about AI replacing artists; it’s about artists using AI to do things we can’t even imagine yet.
Lila’s Take: I’ll admit, I was a little nervous about all this AI stuff. It seemed like magic, and I worried it would mean we wouldn’t need creative people anymore. But thinking of it as a “co-pilot” makes so much more sense! It’s like having a super-smart assistant who can handle the boring parts, so the artist can focus on the big, fun, creative ideas. I’m actually excited to see what my favorite creators do with it!
This article is based on the following original source, summarized from the author’s perspective:
Josh Davies, CINO, Artlist, on why AI needs artists — not
the other way around