Art is Made By Ordinary People

I’ve started my annual re-read of Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking, by David Bayles and Ted Orland. This is my second re-reading, but I plan to make it a regular, annual practice—until another book inspires and makes me think about the nature of humans making art as much as this one does.

Only four pages in, this paragraph caught my notice. There’s so much discussion about AI and its place in the world. Does it (will it) help or hurt or replace artists? Does it operate on theft? Can a writer use AI to develop their story? Is spellcheck and grammar check a form of AI? Is using AI cheating? Is it plagiarism? Is there a place for AI in art?

Behold:

Creatures having only virtues can hardly be imagined making art. It's difficult to picture the Virgin Mary painting landscapes. Or Batman throwing pots. The flawless creature wouldn't need to make art. And so, ironically, the ideal artist is scarcely a theoretical figure at all. If art is made by ordinary people, then you'd have to allow that the ideal artist would be an ordinary person too, with the whole usual mixed bag of traits that real human beings possess. This is a giant hint about art, because it suggests that our flaws and weaknesses, while often obstacles to our getting work done, are a source of strength as well. Something about making art has to do with overcoming things, giving us a clear opportunity for doing things in ways we have always known we should do them.

I want to read art written by human minds and hands just as I want to enjoy paintings and photographs created by human minds and hands. I believe humanity, in all its imperfectness, is where great beauty lies. Art emerges out of experiences, imaginings that are intensely human. Art can be difficult to produce, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. There are no shortcuts to great art.

So how does AI factor in to my coaching and editing practice? I’ve added a statement to my contracts that clarifies that I work with clients who produce the work themselves and not with AI, and that I will not use AI or not enter my clients’ work (which is their property) into AIs or LLMs.

Human-produced art is important to me. I want to live in a world where this kind of art flourishes. My hope is a few years down the road, this blog post will look silly and I can remove the AI clause from my contracts.

I hope you will join me in pursuing the human in your work and in others’.