Viral AI-made art trends are making artists even more worried about their futures

From Studio Ghibli-inspired illustrations to doll “starter packs,” an explosion of AI-generated images in recent weeks has sparked a fresh wave of concern among artists.

Joy Cardaño said she used to get commissioned almost every week to create anime-inspired art. Now, she said, that work has nearly come to a halt, with many online users seeming to gravitate toward artificial intelligence-made art, instead.  

From Studio Ghibli-inspired illustrations to doll and action figure “starter packs,” an explosion of AI-generated images in recent weeks has sparked a fresh wave of concern among artists like Cardaño, who argue that using AI undermines the importance of trained artists and takes away their commission opportunities. 

“People who use it [AI generators] should be respectful of artists,” Cardaño, who goes by Joyblivion on Instagram, said in an email, calling the trend “so unethical.” “Even if the artists are vocal about how they don’t want their art to be used, they refuse to listen. I think whoever uses it or is thinking of using it should research how it impacts the art community.”  

Many in the art community echo the sentiment as they continue to monitor the latest advancements in AI, including the recent rollout of OpenAI’s GPT- 4o, which can generate text, images and audio. ChatGPT users are able to generate images using the model for free. The rest of its capabilities are for paid users only, with membership prices starting at $20 a month.

Cardaño, 30, who is based in the Philippines, said she has been a full-time artist since she graduated from college. She primarily sells her work on INPRNT, an online shop. Her commissioned pieces usually start at $100. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/viral-ai-made-art-trends-artists-concerns-rcna201448

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