Marist Undergraduate Philosophy Journal Vol VII 2024

Ethical Implications of AI-Generated Art

function and inflexible in its tasks, unlike a human. 5 These substantial cognitive limitations should preclude anthropomorphization. 6 Yet, this inflexibility allows us to categorize an AI system based on its utility. Take the example of a text-to-image model called DALL-E 3. A text-to-image model is a type of generative AI. Principally, a generative AI “creates content — including text, images, video, and computer code — by identifying patterns in large quantities of training data and creating original material with similar characteristics. Examples include ChatGPT for text and DALL-E and Midjourney for images.” 7 Essentially, a program such as DALL-E 3 uses a considerable collection of images as a dataset and then generates similar images based on that dataset. 8 3. Can artificial intelligence create art? Now, here is where some may say this argument is already moot. Many artists and art enjoyers argue that artificial intelligence cannot create artwork for a few reasons: Principally, an AI does not experience emotions and, because of this, it is incapable of creating art at all; secondly, the capabilities of artificial intelligence cannot possibly compare to the expertise and ability of a professionally trained artist; thirdly, the images produced by artificial intelligence are not art because AI merely mimics human works. 9 5 B.J. Copeland, “Artificial Intelligence (AI) | Definition, Examples, Types, Applications, Companies, & Facts,” Encyclopedia Britannica , November 14, 2023, https://www.britannica.com/technology/artificial-intelligence. 6 Arleen Salles, Kathinka Evers, and Michele Farisco, “Anthropomorphism in AI,” Ajob Neuroscience 11, no. 2 (March 31, 2020): 88–95, https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2020.1740350. 7 Adam Pasick, “Artificial Intelligence Glossary: Neural Networks and Other Terms Explained,” The New York Times , March 27, 2023, accessed November 14, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/article/ai- artificial-intelligence-glossary.html. 8 “Generative Models,” June 16, 2016, accessed November 14, 2023, https://openai.com/research/generative-models. 9 Sarah Shaffi, “‘It’s the Opposite of Art’: Why Illustrators Are Furious about AI,” The Guardian , January 23, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/jan/23/its-the-opposite-of-art- why-illustrators-are-furious-about-ai.

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