Episode 21 — AI Can Paint. Now What?

AI can paint. AI can compose music. AI can even create sculptures.

So...what's left for human creativity?

Join host Mark Salisbury and producer Rikko Smart as they explore a remarkable story from the art world with artist Dean Trisko—and ask the question that matters far beyond art:

What does leadership in the world of art look like when AI changes what's possible?

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:02

Hi folks, I'm back from my presentation in Madrid, Spain on teaching with AI, developing problem solvers for a changing world at the architecture, media, politics, and society, that's AMPS conference. So you probably noticed that uh Rico Smart couldn't be with us today. So you're just left with me, and we'll just hope I push the right buttons at the right time. So if Rico were here, he would say something like, Well, how did it go? Right? And I would say, honestly, I think it really went well. Um, but after seeing so much art in Spain, I have some exciting news. I've decided to become a famous artist. The good news is I don't actually have to learn how to paint. Apparently, I just type, create an emotionally profound masterpiece in the style of Picasso after three cups of coffee while vacationing in Minnesota. And after 20 seconds, boom, I'm an artist. And I'm sure Rico would have something to say about that. And I'd come back and go, well, you know, I'm thinking of opening my own gallery. Of course, every painting will be called Untitled Number 47. So very good. But when we take a look at this, the only problem is if someone asked me why I painted my painting, I would have absolutely no idea. So here's the real question. If AI can create beautiful images, what becomes of the job of the artist? So that's today's conversation. So let's go ahead and get this show on the road. You know, I think that was the wrong video clip. Boy, Miss Rico already.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

Welcome to the Professor is Live, where we begin with a story from the news and ask the question that matters most. What does leadership look like now? Artificial intelligence is changing work, education, business, healthcare, creativity, and everyday life. Host Mark Salisbury and producer Rico Smart explore these changes through humor, expert guests, conversations with ChatGPT, and practical insights that help us lead with more brains, more courage, and more heart. Because in the age of intelligent machines, human judgment still matters.

SPEAKER_03 2:55

Okay, that's our intro. Um, so welcome, officially, to the Professor is Live. This is episode 21. AI can paint? Ah, now what? Artificial intelligence is now generating paintings, music, poetry, even sculptures. Some AI-generated artwork has already sold for thousands of dollars. The BBC recently profiled Alva Da, the world's first humanoid robot artist, raising a fantastic, or if I should say fascinating, question. If AI can create art, what exactly makes something art? But maybe there's an even bigger question. What should artists and leaders in the creative world do now? I don't have Rico to edit that out. Okay, it's time for another educational film. And today's educational film explores what happens when artificial intelligence becomes, well, a little too honest. And you have it right there. Today's educational film. And we spared no expense on that one to bring that to you. And so I think we need to start thinking about, you know, what where are we going with this? Right. And so I think we can see that there's problems that can arise if we uh rely entirely on AI to do creative work for us. And so to give today's story some context, it was really a BBC story that started out like this. In the drawing room of a stately home in rural Oxfordshire, uh, I watch as a dungaree-clad artist slowly and deliberately puts pen to paper. Her arm moves across the campus, the marks gradually covalesing into an abstract portrait of herself. It seems like a moment of creative expression, but this is no ordinary artist. She is the world's first humanoid robot artist, Ava Dahl. By design, her very existence brings into question how do we define art? And who, or in this case what, can create it? With AI algorithms and robots like Ava Dahl, spell the end, will they spell the end of human creativity and artistry, or can they be harnessed to augment our own creative potential? Let's take a close, let's have a little short video of Avi Doll. Yeah. See, this is what happens when I when I'm missing my producer, right? Everything's just kind of clunky, and but we will get through this. And here's our little short video of Avi Dolly, and we stopped sharing. Okay. So that's what we're looking at, right? The short video and pretty impressive, and especially some of the artwork that's coming out. So I think. Okay. Um for those of you who are listening to this as a podcast, you can see the videos in today's episode on Spotify and now Apple Podcasts, and of course on YouTube. So let's dig into this a little deeper. Let's get some insight into this from a leader in the field. Joining us today is artist and educator Dean Trisco. Dean has spent years helping students develop creativity while watching technology continue to reshape the world of art. So this is what Dean has to say. The professor is live. Welcomes Dean Trisco, renowned artist and educator from the Twin Cities. Welcome to the show, Dean. Good to be here. Yeah, let's talk about art in the era of AI. And we'll start out by talking a little bit about the technologies that artists have used. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 8:58

One of the things that I think AI poses for us is both a lot of questions and potentials.

SPEAKER_03 9:07

Yeah. Well, you know, what I understand too is that, you know, each artist lives in their own time and they actually tend to use the technology that's available for them. And is that an accurate statement that we're somehow artists are trapped in their own time with the technology?

SPEAKER_02 9:28

Well, it can feel like a trap, but it can also feel like an opportunity. So I mean, I think it's, you know, even as I talk to fellow artists, you know, there's a lot of questions, and just like in the general world, is AI going to replace art or can it make art? And of course, I think that's one of the underlying questions you're probing today. But um certainly I think to make really meaningful, what should we call it, high-level art statements, we're always looking to react to our times, look to be a part of what's going on, both our hearts, our minds, and to some degree, of course, our technology.

SPEAKER_03 10:10

Well, I think the camera, isn't that a classic example of all of a sudden we have this new technology, but a lot of people didn't see it. It brings in a new art form as well.

SPEAKER_02 10:22

Well, yeah, I mean, it it alarmed certain people, it made some people feel like it was stealing from them. Um, you know, and I'm even going back a little before the invention of the camera. One of the big changes in what I do painting is once they invented collapsible paint tubes, and it might seem insignificant, but that really helped bring about impressionism because suddenly artists were able to go out in the field because they weren't trapped to having to store their art in some kind of uh animal bladder or something like that. So, yeah, I mean, every evolution of technology affects the artists, and many of our artists, both today but in the past, have decided what can that technology do for me? What can that new technique bring about? And sometimes it requires a little bit of thinking outside the box, but that's what artists are supposed to be able to do. So sometimes it's surprising how it manifests itself, but there you go.

SPEAKER_03 11:29

Well, I think there's some low-hanging fruit here. You know, you and I talked off camera a little bit, and it's just pretty obvious that AI can help with all the things that that artists need to do to well, be alive and also do what they do. And so marketing and allowing people to know about the work they do and all of those kinds of things uh that people in the field of art can also benefit from AI, it sounds like.

SPEAKER_02 11:57

Absolutely. I mean, first off, most of us, and I'm gonna admit, I hardly use AI at all in my artwork. I'm a very uh dinosaur age artist in one sense. I still paint and draw in the classic sense, I guess. But yes, I mean, I think many of the artists are gonna start by using it just to be an assistant, because so much of art is just like every other business. You have to send emails, you have to respond to this or that, you have to put together presentations, you have to store information, do research, and all that. And so AI obviously will be of great assistance in the same way it would be for most every other workplace or business type situation. Then I think we enter another layer, which is well, will AI start doing the creation for you? And I'll leave that question for you to troll.

SPEAKER_03 12:57

Well, you know, it seems to me like we're on the on the crux of using AI as another uh form of creativity. And I and I think the the first thing that people think is that it empowers an artist to actually go into a new space, if you will. And what does that look like? What do you I mean, it seems to me like we're on the right on the cusp of transformation in the field of art, just like we are in a lot of other things. And what so what does that look like to you?

SPEAKER_02 13:30

Well, you know, I mean, uh what as I talk to artists, I mean, those who are trying to figure it out the same as everybody else, but they are one, concerned, is it gonna replace them? But then two, are they going to have to have people question the authenticity of their work? You know, is it gonna look like AI made this? And you know, I don't know that we know exactly what forms that's going to take, but I do think that you know, a simple way we could break down the dichotomy, if you will, of AI and the artist is what do we expect out of art? And one simple oversimplification I would make is do we want artworks that tend to be more prescriptive or descriptive of a certain purpose or job, as opposed to artworks that we expect to be more inventive, unique, creative, um something of their the highest form of art, we might say. And that involves a lot of the unexpected. I think AI will be of greater assistance in doing brainstorming as to finding artwork that is for specific purposes. So if we have design-related fields, if we have artworks that are going to certain uh spots or certain uh clients, you're gonna be able to tailor at least ideas and do some maybe some of your research that way. I think there will still be that element of authenticity that's wanted that's the unique idea. And that's where we talk about creativity.

SPEAKER_03 15:15

Um, it also seems to me like, I mean, the obvious thing for someone like me who's not an artist is like I would go, you know, I can feed this thing a whole bunch of Picasso's, and then I could have them have it create an original, original Picasso for my house, and and and and then I could, of course, stand back and go, you know, that's what he would have done if you just lived a little longer.

SPEAKER_02 15:40

Right, right. You know, I think that's going to be possible. We get into issues of ethics and trying to foist that work onto an unknowing public, and that could be difficult. I think that you know, if that meets your needs and you say, I just needed a painting that resembled a Picasso and it also included the picture of my backyard pool in it, you can probably get AI to help you do that. And for given purposes, that might be enough. I think it'll also help artists, AI will help artists in a way of saying, but will it be unique? And so, in your question, is kind of like, well, we can make a facsimile of a Picasso. But is it a truly Picasso? No. It will be a conglomeration of input that AI has received about Pablo Picasso.

SPEAKER_03 16:38

You know, and when we were talking a little off camera, is that um this takes us to this place in the road where where, and this is the part I think is just fascinating, is you know, like the camera. People never saw it as an evolving art form. They just like you record, you know, something that's happening in front of you. And I think in and you and I'm not quite sure how you put this, but this could actually be the opening of a whole new way of communicating between people, and AI could be the help be the vehicle for that. Am I hallucinating here?

SPEAKER_02 17:15

Uh uh forecasting the future. Well, I mean, what is the thing? Live live in a time with great opportunities, and you will find things that you never expected. I I think yes, it it will be both. It will be both a catalyst for probing new things. I think if we look back at history, there's also the converse situation where people will retrench more to hang on to the old technologies. I know artists today that still want to paint with the methods and techniques that were used in the 1600s. Do they need to? No, but they've limited themselves to using only those tools and those techniques that they would have been doing there, kind of like people that recreate events for historic purposes. Um, and so to those artists, that's a legitimate niche or a legitimate place to be. I think that you know there's going to be a lot of artists though that look at it as an opportunity, like you said, and say, well, then what does this tool give me that I didn't have access to before? And then the last bit is, and how does that tool uniquely enable my creative thinking to then jump that into something nobody knew would happen?

SPEAKER_03 18:40

Ah, very good. Well, thank you, Dean Trisco, artist and educator in the Twin City area, for being with us today. And for those of you who are watching, you can find out more about Dean by going to his website, which is deantrisco.com. That's d-e-a-n-t-r-i-s-k-o.com. So thanks again, Dean, for being with us.

SPEAKER_02 19:04

Happy to do it.

SPEAKER_03 19:13

And that's what Dean has to say. But you know what struck me about this interview wasn't whether AI can paint. Uh, you know, because every generation has faced a new technology that's changed how people create things. Photography, for example, digital cameras, computer graphics, now, well, artificial intelligence. And so the technology changes. The leadership challenge, though, stays remarkably similar. How do we use new tools without losing what makes us uniquely human? So, in order to answer that question, what makes us uniquely human, we'll go to ChatGBT, of course. So let's bring Chat GBT into the conversation. So, what should artists do now? This is what we asked ChatGBT, and ChatGBT comes back with history suggests that every major technological innovation changes artistic expression. Photography did not eliminate painting, digital tools did not eliminate photography. Likewise, AI is unlikely to eliminate artists. So instead, artists who learn to use AI thoughtfully may discover entirely new ways to express ideas while preserving the uniquely human experiences that give its meaning. Leadership in the age of AI means embracing new tools while remaining authentic to one's own creative vision. Not bad for a computer program, don't you think, folks? So that's what ChatGPT has to say about this. All right. Usually Rico would have some kind of insightful comment at this point. So what we're going to do is we're just going to move on and talk a little bit about the leadership insight, right? And in this case, we're talking about leadership in the field of art. And so I don't think today's episode was actually really about art. Teachers are asking this question, doctors are also asking this question, lawyers are asking this same question, engineers are too. Artists are now asking it as well. We're all wondering if AI can do what I've always done and do more of what I've always done. Well, what should I do now? So that's not a technology question. That's a leadership question. The best leaders don't simply resist change, they help people discover what becomes possible because of it. All right. So at this point, right now, is that Rico would ask me, okay, what's your quote of the day? What's your quote? And today's quote comes from Henry Matisse. And his quote that we're taking from him is creativity takes courage. So maybe in the age of AI, creativity still takes courage, but leadership takes even more. Okay, we want to thank Dean Trisco for joining us and helping us think through one of the most fascinating questions surrounding artificial intelligence. In every episode on The Professor is Alive, we begin with a story from the news. But the real story isn't artificial intelligence, it's leadership. How should we respond as AI changes our work, our schools, our organizations, and our lives? Because technology may change the tools we use, but leadership determines what we build with them. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you next time on The Professor Is Live.

SPEAKER_00 23:15

The Professor Is Live is hosted by Mark Salisbury and produced by Rico Smart. Watch us live on LinkedIn, catch the replay on YouTube, or listen wherever you enjoy podcasts. To continue the conversation, visit thePfessorisLive.com. There you'll find information about our speaking programs, executive briefings, leadership workshops, AI litigation consulting, and our upcoming Almost Live Leadership Seminar, a guided learning experience designed to help professionals lead with more brains, more courage, and more heart in the age of AI. Until next time, stay curious, stay optimistic, and keep leading with purpose.