The term “Machina Artificium” sounds a little more palatable (and maybe snooty?) when describing the process of generating AI artwork.

No one can take away the tactile joy of making prints and manipulating materials to make art. By the same token, I find AI generative art very useful in many instances.

Not to dismiss valid questions surrounding machine learning through the appropriation of other artist’s work scraped from the web. However, most of us know that the creative process involves borrowing ideas, either consciously or unconsciously. Which raises the question of ‘free will’ and originality. Can we say that most art seems derivative, or is that asking for trouble?

Now we have a machine that does the “borrowing” for you and not only that, assemble elements of the image according to your instructions. Awesome!

In other words, it creates a ready made starting point for further interpretation. This way of discovering new imagery should exist as a part of every creative’s quiver without fear of compromise.