The Artist and the Algorithm: How AI is Redefining Creativity
In a ground-floor apartment in Vienna, a man sits in his studio. The walls are decorated with portraits of influential characters, a newspaper, and tons of items, mostly for inspiration and core memories. In the corner, the 'canvas' is placed, consisting of two computer screens – one for music and one for creating with an AI-generated auto portrait in the background.
Klemens Oezelt, the studio owner, sits in his flip-flops, rocking with one leg, lighting a home-rolled cigarette, and immersing himself in a universe he has created by himself. The keyboard is his piano, and the mouse his conductor. Klemens is creating AI photos and art, actually tons of it, but would still not define himself as an artist.
A term is born
In simple terms, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a machine capable of performing actions and analysis. Basically, it does things in a way that only humans were once capable of – which also inspired the name of the field. The term was first introduced in the 1950s, but it gained major growth in the 2010s. News reports began highlighting robots that could pick medicine for patients in pharmacies and serve sushi at restaurants. However, it was when OpenAI introduced ChatGPT that AI became a global phenomenon, and AI also found its way into art, sparking a debate.
Are you still an artist if you create with Artificial Intelligence?
Klemens Oezelt is a Vienna-based concept artist who works with AI, creating pieces that are sometimes surreal and sometimes strikingly realistic. He has been a photographer for many years.
"You can create unique stories now, that were not possible before"
Klemens Oezelt shows the process of working with AI
Because AI is a new marker on the scene, experts are still researching the challenges and benefits of the technology. There's so much to be unfold from people, who have been working with AI as well as the ones, who refuse it and see it as a threat to traditional art.
Examples of Klemens' work include a cat photo created by blending a cat with the morning scene from The Hangover.
Klemens creates his own universes based on different movies.
He gets his inspiration from the fantasy world.
Klemens didn’t initially want to create AI images. Before discovering AI, he worked as a photographer. He points out how AI, for example, can significantly reduce the work effort spent on hours in Photoshop. However, he always avoids using his skills to create deepfakes or anything that could contribute to disinformation. For him, AI is a tool – a powerful one – but not a substitute for human emotion or intention.
I think this will be the greatest change that AI brings: The ability to deceive people easier.
Klemens doesn’t follow any guidelines when creating AI art, and according to him, commenting on art is not a dignified term.
New Tool in Art
How do you see AI in Art?
According to the professor, AI can be seen as a tool where cameras and other equipment are no longer needed. He calls it 'A Medium,' which allows artists to do things that were previously impossible.
What do the numbers say about AI in art?
We’ve heard from artists and experts, but how do others feel? We have found recent data (2024) that reveal some interesting insights about how artists view AI’s role in their creative process:
- 73% of artists believe they should be asked for permission before their work is used to train algorithms. LAION-5B, the largest image-text dataset, holds over 5.8 billion pieces of art, likely including works from many of these artists—without their consent or compensation.
- 65% have embraced text-to-image technology to expand their ideas or inspire new ones. For many, AI is a valuable tool for brainstorming or enhancing their creative process.
- 38% worry about unintentionally infringing on other artists’ work when using AI. Meanwhile, 33% aren’t concerned about copyright issues, and 16% admit they don’t think about it at all.
- 28% are concerned about the originality of AI-generated artworks, fearing they may look too similar to others’ creations.
Source: Academy of Animated Art
What does Vienna-based Ukrainian film editor think of AI in art?
Nataliia Myrna is a singer and film editor who explores artificial intelligence as a unique art form. In her interview, she reflects on how AI interacts with human creativity, emphasizing that it does not replace the artist but rather enhances their work. According to her, artificial intelligence can reveal a person’s inner state and self-perception in deeply emotional ways, offering new perspectives on artistic expression.
Artificial intelligence reveals the inner state of a person, in what forms they see themselves, very emotionally.
Nataliia Myrna explains her artistic process.
She compares AI to the evolution of traditional painting - centuries ago, artists had to mix their own pigments, while today, they can choose from a vast selection of ready-made colors. Some may argue that using pre-made paints is not as authentic, but in reality, the essence of creativity remains unchanged. The same applies to AI: it is simply a tool that expands artistic possibilities rather than diminishing them.
Addressing the question of originality, Nataliia dismisses the idea that AI-generated art is plagiarism. The neural networks she works with on a daily basis never produce identical images, meaning that every AI-assisted creation remains truly unique. In her view, AI is not a shortcut but a reflection of human imagination.
Nataliia Myrna: Singer and Film Editor.
Source: Nataliia Myrna on YouTube
The most popular AI tools among artists
Interviewed artists mentioned some AI tools they're using in their work. But which tools are the most popular among artists? In 2024, over one in ten people chose Playform as their favorite AI image creation tool, although this was less than half the number who preferred Midjourney or Dall-E 2. Meanwhile, just over 5% picked Starry AI, which was 7% fewer than those who chose Playform.
Source: The Academy Of Animated Art
Another survey conducted in 2024 revealed that nearly half of the artists (45.7%) found AI to be very useful in their creative process. Just under a third (31.5%) said it was somewhat useful but hadn’t fully integrated it into their workflow, while only 6.7% found it to be of no use at all.
Source: AIRPN and Academy of Animated Art
Despite the increasing use of AI in art, less than one in ten (8.2%) of surveyed artists said they plan to showcase their text-to-image creations in art venues. Similarly, just over one in twenty (6.8%) intend to sell their AI-generated artwork as NFTs (Non-fungible tokens)
On the other hand, more than a third of respondents (around 37%) plan to share their AI artwork on social media, which is four times more than those planning to exhibit in art venues, making it the most popular choice.
Interestingly, over a third of artists (around 36%) stated they do not plan to showcase their AI art at all — about five times more than those who plan to sell it as NFTs.
Source: AIRPN and Academy of Animated Art
These numbers paint a complex picture of excitement and concern. While AI offers new creative possibilities, it also raises ethical questions about consent, compensation, and originality. As AI continues to progress, the art world must navigate these challenges to ensure fair and inspiring creative practices.
Insights from Jan Svenungsson a Swedish Artist working in Vienna
Swedish artist Jan Svenungsson, who teaches at the University of Applied Arts (Die Angewandte) in Vienna as the head of the department for drawing and printmaking, shared his insights on how AI is reshaping art, ethics, and the creative process.
Swedish artist Jan Svenungsson, Photo: Private
“AI has been around for a long time, longer than we tend to think,” Jan noted, emphasizing that the technology's impact on art only became widely recognized with the launch of generative models like ChatGPT and DALL-E. These tools can now produce text and images that are reshaping creative expression. “It’s already impacting art and all our lives in a big way,” he added.
According to Jan, AI lacks the emotional depth and intent that define human creativity. “AI can’t create art by itself because art is something that human beings do for other human beings,” he explained. In his book, Art Intelligence (How Generative AI Relates to Human Art-Making) Jan describes art as “a game between humans,” highlighting that even if AI produces beautiful images, they only gain meaning when a human claims ownership and purpose behind them.
He also speculated about a future where artificial general intelligence (AGI) could possess self-awareness and autonomy, potentially leading to machines capable of cultural production. “At that point, they may start discussions about what is beautiful and what is not,” Jan imagined, suggesting that such machines could even create art or redefine the concept itself.
The rise of AI-generated art has sparked intense debates about copyright. Many generative AI models are trained using vast amounts of online images, including copyrighted works. Jan pointed out that “many of them copyrighted… have been taken into the large language model” without artists’ consent, leading to lawsuits from commercial illustrators.
“Humans will continue to develop new ways of making art because that is something deeply entrenched in the way our brains function,” he explained.
1. What Ethical Considerations Are there When it Comes to AI in Art?
2. About Artificial General Intelligence
Helena Schmidt´s Perspective on AI use in Art
Helena Schmidt, Ph.D., teaches and researches at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, focusing on digitalization in art education. She observes that “in recent years, we have seen an increase in exhibitions, artworks, conferences, and theoretical discourse on art and AI,” especially with the rise of tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E. However, she notes that “all datasets used in AI mirror the people and knowledge systems that created them and, as such, are never neutral.”
Schmidt emphasizes the importance of critical engagement with AI, particularly in education. “It is important to know this when working with AI, especially in education. Students should learn to be very critical of AI and not take everything for granted.” She also believes that:
AI ethics should include questions of human rights, planetary justice and the climate catastrophe, social justice, inclusion, gender inequalities, intersectionality, and anti-racism.
Photo: hkb-iptk
Despite ethical concerns, Schmidt sees potential in AI’s role in art. At her academy, an “AI Care Café” was recently established, fostering dialogue about AI’s impact on art and education. She hopes for more initiatives that “ask how we can care for each other and care with AI tools.”
The scene in Klemens’s studio paints a vivid picture of AI’s role in modern creativity. It’s not about replacing the artist but redefining the creative process. As Klemens and Nataliia weave narratives and emotions into their digital canvases, they prove that artistry is not confined to traditional tools or methods. It’s about intent, collaboration, and the stories we choose to tell.
AI is a medium, a bridge between imagination and reality. It expands the possibilities of human expression, but the artist remains at the helm, guiding the vision and giving it meaning. In this new era of creativity, the question isn’t whether AI can create art, but whether we can embrace a new definition of what it means to be an artist.
The debate about AI and art is far from over. Yet, as Klemens and Nataliia continue their dance of creation, one thing is clear: the essence of artistry lies not in the tools we use but in the stories we dare to tell.
Authors: Lizi Nozadze, Tetiana Chaban, Julia Stürmer, Sofiia Melekh and Casper Brock Mentor: Jens Lang
Authors creating following pictures
We as Midjourney illustrates us
Our mentor enlightens us
This article was created with use of following AI tools: Midjourney, Suno, ElevenLabs, DeepL and ChatGPT