What Does It Mean to Be an Artist?

by Janae Yates

With the increasingly overwhelming use of AI as a substitute for art over the last year alone, I've found myself questioning the value of artists in this world of consumerism. You have AI generators that can make songs with lyrics about any prompt you desire. You have hundreds of companies and even the current president of the United States using AI art that are absolute copies of Hayao Miyazaki's style. We are even at the point where AI has now begun to take over jobs that would have otherwise been occupied by people. Are the roles of artists in society truly that easy to mimic? And if so, what value will artists have in the next ten years?

I think the answers to the previous questions are quite simple. Yes, art is easy to replicate and mimic. It has been happening for centuries. Whether it was the making of fake paintings and sculptures, the stealing of ideas in science and inventions, the stealing of music, and rewritten history. I think art is incredibly easy to mimic.

But, there's humanity, essence, and weight an original artistic piece and artist have that a mimic and copy could never replicate. An original has the hours and years of work and dedication, the hundreds of strokes. You feel the changes in the artist's day-to-day emotions. An original connects with the people and evokes a sense of liveliness, authenticity, and rawness that a copy, computer, and algorithm fail to meet.

Yet still, what does it mean to be an artist? Anyone can sing, draw, paint, dance, act, and play an instrument. That does not make you an artist, though. That makes you creative. In my opinion, an artist needs to have a message. An artist needs to have something to say that goes beyond their personal motivations and resonates with a community; whatever that may be or look like. If not, the "artist" is simply creating emotionless work that an algorithm could do ten times better.

To be an artist is to lead with authenticity. It is to understand that you are not your art and that art is not all that you are, but simply an extension of how you express yourself. It is to be able to express all of your emotions, thoughts, and ideas in a way that is true to you and everything that you are. Because when you are true to yourself, you develop a deep attachment to what it means to be human. That is something that all people can relate to. No machine could ever compare to the role artists have in society. We are beacons of light in a world fueled by envy, hate, and money. We must find ourselves and use everything we have to connect this world full of beautiful, diverse people with one another. That is our duty. And if I am being honest, it is the absolute least we can do.