College student takes a stand against art teacher's lesson: 'It goes against my own fundamentals and values'

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  • Artist sits in sunlight and begins to paint.
  • College Art Teacher wants AI Generated Content

    I currently take an online art history class- Introduction to Art. I'd suspected in the past that the teacher uses Al for assignments with how how they're structured, how text is formatted,
  • art and have a discussion about said "artworks". This is a genuine, actual interpretation of machine-created art, not discussing the consequences of Al on the art landscape, not in a satirical sense, this is an
  • Art student happily paints a picture.
  • incorrect information, and incorrect dates. On top of that, each unit we have to talk to an Al about the Unit content. Now, for our next assignment-due in about 3 hours-the teacher wants us to generate Al
  • actual genuine evaluation of slop. And even if it harms my grade... I'm not doing it. It goes against my own fundamentals and values, both as a human and an aspiring artist.
  • Artist creates painting in art studio.
  • Edit: Hi, this an addendum to clarify some things, as I was a bit vitriolic in my post. 1.) To the people saying that it's important to have an Al discussion: I totally and completely agree. I never had an issue with
  • discussing Al in the class: what is good and bad, drawbacks, benefits, interpretations, it's place in the classroom, etc. are all important discussions to have.
  • But that's not what we're doing in this assignment. The teacher is telling us to prompt an Al and interpret whatever it makes with the same artistic lens we've discussed actual human art. No ethical debate about Al, nor
  • understanding it's place in the Art world - save for an article about Al that has little to do with the actual assignment content. 2.) Context. There was no previous discussions about Al (except for the
  • start of the year, in which you promise not to use it for assignments like every other class). I would be more inclined to this assignment if it tied into an overall theme we were discussing, or was a part of a larger whole. I did say we've had
  • discussions with Al before (think character ai, but with museum curator personas), but even in those, there was no question to what the Al's said, no disclaimer that Al isn't always correct or anything, just 'what did. you learn from talking
  • with an Al'. 3.) What I mean by Al should have no place in an art class. I, when saying it, made a generalization that maybe is a bit broad, so let me clarify: I think it's fine to
  • have a discussion about Al 'art', especially if its how to identify it or how to contend with it when trying to sell your art to companies who are considering Al (which is a whole different problem I have). The point I'm trying to convey is that in
  • a classroom setting, you should not be giving Al art the same importance as real art. It should be a warning, or a guide-not a how-to. 3.) Generative Al vs. Other Al:
  • My main issue is with generative Al, as I find it morally dubious to be stealing copyrighted artwork made by real people and churning out soulless "art" mimicking the work of real people. I have no issues with other Al: I use Chatgpt to help
  • with trig all the time when I'm stuck. I use it to check spelling and grammar when writing essays as well as formatting my own ideas. Al is improving many other industries, like Healthcare and security.
  • There are places for AI, I just don't think the creative space is one of them. 4.) To the Al bros who just love slobbering on clanker (sorry, thats mean, but it's honestly how I feel).
  • Pick up a pencil, draw something, and ask yourself - really think on it - whether Al gave you the same sense of accomplishment as doing something for yourself does, whether you grew or learned anything new, whether or not you
  • broadened your horizons. Ask yourself whether it was more fun typing into a text box or more fun creating something that only you could.
  • Final Thought: I won't say I know everything about Al, franky, I'm uneducated considering how broad a topic it is. So, message me if you want to talk, I enjoy learning and I love to debate.

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