AI tools are flooding the culture ecosystem — and no corner of the arts space is immune. In this series, we’re looking at the ways artists are embracing AI, pushing back on it, or trying their best to find an equilibrium with a new technology that’s both sweeping and destabilizing. We talk to perfumers questioning the looming automation of scent creation, fanfic writers pushing back on archive scrapers, and illustrators replacing the AI that once replaced them. The tech isn’t going away. Here’s how artists are starting to deal with it.
Futureproof
How artists are responding in the age of AI.
Image: Jackson Gibbs / The Verge
One of this year’s hit puzzle games wouldn’t have existed without AI — but it wouldn’t have become a hit without a human to replace it.
Jay Castello
Artist Terence Broad makes AI produce images without any training data at all.
Franklin Schneider
The residencies aren’t ‘choosing sides,’ but they could still shift how the public views AI.
Deena Mousa
AI isn’t just impacting how we write — it’s changing how we speak and interact with others. And there’s only more to come.
Sara Parker
With no way to stop the onslaught of AI music, the industry is taking a different approach: figuring out how to make money off of it.
Jack Buehrer
Asteria co-founder Bryn Mooser dreams of a future where filmmakers and gen AI models can coexist as creative partners.
Charles Pulliam-Moore
‘It forces both designers and clients to rethink the value of designers.’
Gus Rick
‘It’s disconnecting us further from reality, relationships with nature, and also our community.‘
Nicole Froio
Almagul Menlibayeva looks at AI as a way to reflect the biases of its creators.
Elise Morton
AI is rapidly changing how fragrance is created — and who gets credit. Some say it’s innovation. Others call it erasure.
Arabelle Sicardi
‘It is a gift. They stole it without my permission.’
Decca Muldowney
One of this year’s hit puzzle games wouldn’t have existed without AI — but it wouldn’t have become a hit without a human to replace it.
Jay Castello
Artist Terence Broad makes AI produce images without any training data at all.
Franklin Schneider
The residencies aren’t ‘choosing sides,’ but they could still shift how the public views AI.
Deena Mousa
AI isn’t just impacting how we write — it’s changing how we speak and interact with others. And there’s only more to come.
Sara Parker
With no way to stop the onslaught of AI music, the industry is taking a different approach: figuring out how to make money off of it.
Jack Buehrer
Asteria co-founder Bryn Mooser dreams of a future where filmmakers and gen AI models can coexist as creative partners.
Charles Pulliam-Moore
‘It forces both designers and clients to rethink the value of designers.’
Gus Rick
‘It’s disconnecting us further from reality, relationships with nature, and also our community.‘
Nicole Froio
Almagul Menlibayeva looks at AI as a way to reflect the biases of its creators.
Elise Morton
AI is rapidly changing how fragrance is created — and who gets credit. Some say it’s innovation. Others call it erasure.
Arabelle Sicardi
‘It is a gift. They stole it without my permission.’
Decca Muldowney