Chloe Wright
Junior Editor
As the actors lined up to take their bows after the penultimate performance of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, the audience fervently applauded the efforts of the cast, crew, and orchestra for creating an incredible show. When the lights came up, I saw something suspicious on the brochure; the art advertised on the front seemed off, to put it lightly. St. Basil’s Cathedral, at first glance, appeared vibrantly on the page, but the lines were shaky at best and unreasonably placed at worst. Some domes were disproportionately larger than the others. The most telling was the crowd below the cathedral: molded into an unholy amalgamation of chopped body parts. I thought, “What artist would make mistakes like this on official artwork?” Then, I realized. There may have been no artist at all.
Artificial intelligence has taken over the visual art world with a terrifying speed. With a few words typed into a website like Midjourney or ChatGPT, someone can demand a computer to generate a piece of art of whatever they wish. While its debut was far from promising (a popular joke online mocked how often AI companies would generate minute details like fingers), as the program honed its algorithm, its quality improved exponentially. Why would people want to rely on a computer to generate crude-looking art instead of an emerging artist community, eager to participate? Its efficacy is promising. People who do not have the monetary resources to pay artists could use AI art quite easily.
However, exactly what is at stake? The software needs to be trained somehow; one should look at the lawsuits against companies that steal an obscene amount of art or photography already posted online. According to a Reuters article, Getty Images placed a formal order against Stability AI for infringing copyright by using [the stock photo provider’s] images to ‘train’ its Stable Diffusion system, according to the filing dated May 12.” Also, artists have their jobs at stake. According to a survey conducted by the UK Society of Authors, “a quarter of illustrators (26%) and over a third of translators (36%) have already lost work due to generative AI.”
Concerning the poster for Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, Gray Leal (C’ 28) shared her concerns about using generative AI in student-focused works. “I feel like [student] involvement is lost in this instance. It’s a problem for graphic designers and makes it less personable.”
When looking at Sewanee, art, created by humans, defines the very way of life for students, faculty, and staff. Students can sell their handmade creations at Stirlings on the table in the back of the ordering room. Carefully crafted earrings, prints, candles, stickers, and more are a stark reminder of the University of the South’s purpose: to cultivate a student’s ability to create their own path. We even have an art major and minor where long hours in the studio are essential parts to building an artist’s portfolio and work ethic.
The admission’s office, because of the proliferation of ChatGPT in academic settings, posted a statement that did not disapprove of AI’s usage in the college application process. It acknowledged how some students simply do not have the resources to hone their writing; the key word is hone, not replace. But, they state the incoming students must have their work be a product of themselves. “Plagiarism is not tolerated under Sewanee’s Honor Code and is considered a serious offense. Use the tools at your disposal when completing your application, but make sure that it is a reflection of your own hard work.”
When corresponding with the Theatre Department to get answers on the musical’s brochure, Professor Jim Crawford responded with honesty, accepted his responsibility, and earnestly hopes to improve the design choices in the future. “I was attracted to the original image because it presented a more contemporary, less realistic vision of Red Square, which felt in line with the intentionally anachronistic tone of the show…I’m afraid I was juggling too many things at the time, and did not notice that a central part of it was originally created by AI. After we published the poster, a couple of students– who are much more savvy than I am about these issues– pointed it out to me. We had a couple of great conversations about it as a result, and I suspect that’s going to have a very positive impact on how we create our posters in the future.”
Yet, the spread of AI art at Sewanee is hard to question and does not seem to be constrained. On the Biehl Commons Instagram, a generative image depicting Boba Fett holding cups of bubble tea was posted on May 6, 2024. Boba Fett has three arms; despite him being a character from science fiction, he does not have three arms. Accusations of AI usage piled up in the comment section, and now comments are deactivated on the post, which is up to the time of writing this article.
I am not concerned with the philosophical question of “what is art?” or how AI could benefit certain academic spheres or research. While that question is worth debating in another article, I’m arguing that Sewanee’s community (when speaking of the humanities) is positioning itself to highlight human achievements in visual arts. In academic spheres, this is made clear with the Honor Code. In extracurricular spheres, artists are encouraged to spread the word about their creations. As previously mentioned, Stirlings practically has a miniature artist’s market with undergraduate artists hoping to make sales. At other times, it’s a Wild West of generative AI without accountability. As a whole, I think we are confusing ourselves. Why do we allow generative AI to take up opportunities for people?
If certain clubs or groups do not have the budget for an artist, I would be less confused. However, some communities on campus have a humongous budget and choose not to contact Sewanee’s vast community of visual artists. The Tigers Entertainment Board (TEB), just this year for Sewaneroo 2024, appeared to use AI for their promotional material. The poster advertising the music acts depicts rickety buildings surrounding a large moon and a mountain range, giving the piece a sci-fi atmosphere. But when you look closely, the mountains have uncharacteristic gaps, and the buildings seem to melt into each other. This appears not to be an homage to a Dali work but rather the result of generative AI. In an article written by Photography Editor Ella Mitchell (C’ 27) this year, she hosted an interview with Assistant Director of Student Programs Ivory Roberts, who claimed the budget was “about $75,000.” With this money, it can be argued that hiring an artist to design and create a poster would not be out of the realm of possibility.
Moses Vincent III (C’ 25), representative of TEB, acknowledged the problematic poster. “From my perspective, I can assure you that the poster was done very last-minute. However, it wasn’t necessarily done by the hands of someone in TEB. I can promise you when that poster came out, even members of TEB were kind of upset about it because, personally, we’re not gonna try to let you guys down.” While he refused to disclose who created the poster, he admitted that the responsibility does fall on TEB’s shoulders. “We didn’t make it because we sent it out. It still falls on us. Even though I think AI in general is really good, that poster shouldn’t have been made.”
Regulation could be posited as a feasible solution. Leal disagreed because of how large of a responsibility a punitive system would have to take on. “How could you even make guidelines for it? I’m not trying to start anything. But I like how when you see something AI, if you go down in the comment section, a lot of times you’ll see people are dogging on it. We should be very vocal about how bad it is, and maybe someone will listen.”
Even if regulations never come to fruition, the situation on the Biehl Commons Instagram and the musical’s poster prove that while opinions on generative AI are mixed, Sewanee students continue to call out uses of the software. Change is in motion, according to Crawford and the deactivation of comments on the Boba Fett post. As always, Sewanee is a campus where some students refuse to be silent on issues.