Point Of View: My AI

Our first faculty meeting about artificial intelligence (AI) began with discussion of a scene from Terminator 2: Judgment Day. You know the end-of-the-world scenario: Computers get smart, computers take over. The exponential potential of machine learning makes it hard to predict what it might do next or how quickly. The future is unknowable and, therefore, scary.

AI describes any computer system designed to perform tasks usually done by human intelligence. I am most often annoyed by its hypervigilant proofreading of my most playful texts. I programmed my GPS to say, “I like your style” instead of, “Recalculating route” because AI can read maps better than I do, but it rarely understands the terrain.

AI is already in our classrooms, too. ChatGPT is smart enough to write essays, sonnets, and hip-hop songs on pretty much any topic we can imagine. My favorite in-school example is a comparison between Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the sitcom Friends. Students are already using programs like this one to help them with their assignments. The knee-jerk reaction is that students who use AI are cheaters, and the technology should be forbidden. I’d love to detail both sides of our faculty’s debate because I enjoyed every minute of it, but in my opinion, AI presents an exciting challenge. As technology advances, it forces us to rethink what we’re teaching, how we’re teaching, and—most importantly—why we’re teaching. “Why are we teaching five-paragraph essays?” I asked in the faculty meeting. “It’s not about the paragraphs. It’s about making a convincing argument.”

Instead of withholding a powerful tool, why wouldn’t we use it to help our students even more? Examples sprang to mind: Dialoguing with AI in preparation for in-class debates, interrogating AI content to exercise our critical reading skills, using AI Monday through Thursday in advance of “tech-free” days on Friday.

Art and Image Generation
“What about art?” our tech specialist asked, inviting me deeper into the conversation. Various emerging programs came to mind. Dall-E 2, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion use AI to turn words into images. The programs’ functionality will destroy livelihoods, and there are ethical concerns about how artists’ work is harvested to program these machine intelligences.

One of my classes spent about a week trying out these image generators. Some students were more excited about it than others; no matter how well a machine can make art, it can’t compare to the joy we take in making art ourselves.

As I myself played with Stable Diffusion, my fears disappeared. It was immediately clear what AI could do and what it couldn’t even begin to do. That distinct line helped me see what I have to offer as an artist and what I need to give my students—in short, an artistic mind.

Our computer can iterate, but it can’t ideate. It didn’t know what it was doing, why it was doing it, or when its output was successful. As the only person in the room with a college art education, I was the only person who could explain to my students why even their favorite AI images looked creepy. Lighting, value, color theory, and composition came up in our very first conversation. Art class was back on!

Here and Now
Artists are right to be worried. Our industry is shifting like it did when photography was invented, and again, with computer-aided design. Both of those technologies upended careers. Both of those technologies also expanded the vistas for what art could be. That’s happening again now. As artists, we’ll need to stake our places on these new frontiers, and we can! We’re clever; we’re irrepressible; we’ve done it before, and we’ll do it again.

As teachers, our jobs are more urgent. AI is here and learning quickly. For our students to benefit from this revolution, we have to stay ahead of its curve. We have to teach the subject promptly and often; we have to stay up-to-date; and we have to keep our students informed of the new skills, new opportunities, and new dangers presented. If we can embrace these changes, our students will be the ones who make the most of it.

Helpful Results
After the meeting, I asked my AI, “What art projects would you suggest to explore the theme of this year’s art show, Time & Change?” The AI generated dozens of ideas while I cleaned my art room.

I shared the results with my colleagues and said, “Wouldn’t it be cool if we let our students take turns asking AI for project ideas around topics that interest them, with the caveat that they have to do at least one of them?” Guidelines are now emerging for how to use AI in our school’s art rooms. My favorites are “No one-click artwork” and “If you use AI, note how.”

“Next time you lead an assembly,” I said to with our tech specialist, “you should start with the Terminator, but end with Data.” The helpful android from Star Trek: Next Generation is much closer to what AI technology is. And Data works in my art room now!