AI can make art in seconds – how are artists in Singapore fighting to keep their craft alive?

Singapore's creative community is grappling with the impact of generative AI on their work. From illustrators to animators, graphic designers, painters and arts educators, these artists are navigating a mix of curiosity, frustration, and even disgust as they grapple with the rapid generation of visual content using AI tools. While some artists have embraced the technology for brainstorming or professional necessity, many express concerns over copyright infringement, consent, and the erosion of the human touch in their craft.

Pann Lim, a veteran graphic designer, notes that artists' responses to generative AI vary, but many are using it for inspiration or out of financial necessity. One major concern is the way AI draws upon existing creative work without the original artists' knowledge or consent, leading to accusations of theft. OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, states that its models are trained on publicly available material, but this raises ethical questions for artists like The Woke Salaryman's co-founder, Goh Wei Choon.

Goh argues that AI scrapes existing art without permission, stripping away the unique influence, inspiration, and critical thinking that human artists bring to their work. Illustrator Farihath Samsul also reports instances where her original artwork has been repurposed by AI, undermining the importance of critical thinking, empathy, and values in the creative process.

For some, the human element of art is irreplaceable, and the use of generative AI threatens to dilute that essence.