my Anti-AI Disabled Artist Hot Take is that I think a lot of disabled AI users believe in a right to comfort that fundamentally doesn’t exist
and I know this is the piss on the poor website, the no-nuance website, but I feel the need to point this out because I see a disabled AI users talking about “the art community” like we’re a lot of elitists for believing that the process of making the art is what bestows worth upon the finished product. I saw a post where someone went “we all understand that not everyone is going to be a pro athlete because of factors out of their control, why can’t we understand that’s true of artists? what if someone is intellectually incapable of learning how to make art? what if you train and practice for 20 years and you never get good? why should I be barred from making art just because I’m not good or I have difficulties?”
and to that I say the process is the point, even when it’s hard, and I also say abled artists struggle and strive and practice too.
if you practice the flute for 20 years and never get good you will have reaped the benefits of playing for your own entertainment. people play recreational sports with no hope of going pro because they enjoy the experience of playing for their own entertainment. poems that are shitty can express emotions and sentiments authentically and bring catharsis to the author through the experience of writing. acting can be bad and still meaningful to the actors.
doing the thing is the point. the end result is not the point. a stick figure on a Post-It gave the person who drew it something meaningful, it exists as an expression of something the artist felt and the process of drawing it was an outlet for those feelings. assembling a collage requires examining your emotions and using found elements to assemble an expression of those emotions. creating a moodboard is the same. making a word cloud and arranging the words based on what you like best, creating a playlist, tracing a pattern in the carpet with a hand or foot - all of that is meaningful because it is done by a human who is doing it to express a feeling or sentiment. It is done earnestly and translates brain things into something observable. the colors, the positioning, the shapes - you, the artist, are actively making choices that best express your taste. this is why procedurally generated images aren’t art, this is why procedurally generated text isn’t art. there is in fact an inherent value to assembling the final product. the assemblage of the final product is what makes it art. even if the assemblage is screaming to express anger. even if it’s shedding a tear. art is a thing created directly by a human being. eventually when machines become sapient enough to showcase their souls they’ll be able to make art too.
if you do not care enough about the process to want to engage with it despite its difficulty or learning curve or challenge level, you are not entitled to the end result of a finished work of art. it is an unfortunate reality of being disabled that we are not going to do things or get things as easily as abled people. but abled people aren’t effortlessly creating art from perfect comfort either. doing hard things is its own reward. I believe that everyone, no matter their ability or skill level, is capable of making meaningful and important art that authentically expresses their feelings. there is no such thing as Too Disabled For Art. there is no such thing as Too Disabled For Anything But AI. you might never be good. do it anyway. keep doing it. do it badly. that’s how you get better.
(and, just to be clear, I’ve been training in drawing for 23 years, and I’m still not good, and I still get something emotionally beneficial from the act of drawing. again, if you don’t care enough about the process to engage with it despite the difficulty level, you are not entitled to the end results.)
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