Cheap, mass-produced computer-generated artworks claiming to be 'inspired by' songlines and landscapes have flooded online markets, with Aboriginal artists and AI experts raising their concerns.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
International stock image sites like Adobe, and online retailers including Etsy, have shared artificially generated "Indigenous Art" available for purchase at incredibly low prices.
Generative AI sites including GenerateART and NightCafe also share free to use "masterpiece AI work inspired by Songlines" and "ethnic elegance."
Wiradjuri and Ngunnawal artist Imajen Peihopa told the Cowra Guardian for her, creating an art piece is a multilayered process, taking time to sketch, dream and revise a piece. It's a far cry from typing in a prompt into an image generator online, a simple way of creating an imitation artwork.
"We have always been storytellers, it is our birthright. It's in our blood," Peihopa said.
"These AI generated artworks have no culture, no connection to Country, no family, nothing. They are just an empty vessel with no story behind them."
The artist is making plans to return to Cowra later in the year, continuing her artistic practice creating custom artworks, inspired by her grandmother, Patricia Freeman (nee Carroll,) who contributed to the painting of the Cowra bridge pylons.
Peihopa said the impact of fake art, both artificially generated and plagarised, impacts communities across the country.
"I know AI technology is taking the world by storm at the moment and I guess it was just a matter of time before Aboriginal Art was involved," she said.
"Lots of Aboriginal people in really remote areas are making a living off their artwork and are using it to share knowledge about culture and tradition, lots of them still living by the traditional ways too. The chance that this could get taken away from them is awful."
Dr Simon Coghlan, Senior Lecturer in Digital Ethics at the University of Melbourne's Centre for AI and Digital Ethics said the "poor replicas" of Indigenous art create worrying ethical issues for authentic artistic creators.
"Some forms of art may in an important sense belong to a cultural or Indigenous group, not just an individual," he said. "Ethical issues here could take on further worrying dimensions for First Nations artists who have faced systemic disadvantage and oppression and who may struggle to have their art recognised."
"It would be very concerning if indigenous artists had their work exploited and appropriated without their approval and in ways that harm them and their culture."
Dr Coghlan highlighted the connection not only in the final product of an artwork, but the process of creation and collaboration is lost in generative AI artworks. But for Indigenous artists specialising in digital art, or living with a disability, the new technology could offer new mediums to create authentic art.
"In the past, technologies like film and photography were initially felt to be a threat to art, but they also enabled innovative artforms and works to emerge. Generative AI may help artists, including First Nations artists, to produce artworks that are creative and moving," he said.
Peihopa said sharing rich culture through arti is the most authentic you can get, with true artworks created by inspirational Indigenous artists around the Australia.
"I hope that people, when wanting a piece of Aboriginal art, source it from an Indigenous artist and think about the meaning of art to our people and consider the rich culture that drives us and our art," she said.
