Have you ever asked ChatGPT a question you can’t figure out, or asked another AI program to solve a tough math problem? The odds are most current college students are using AI.
A recent study by Copyleaks found that 90% of college students have used AI in some way for their studies. It’s almost impossible to avoid the constantly evolving technology these days, whether you want to or not. Today, the first thing that comes up while doing any kind of internet search is an AI overview.
What’s becoming even more prominent than ChatGPT’s fusions of general information is the imagery and artwork created with services provided by programs already in use at Kent State, such as Adobe’s Creative Suite and Canva. Students of the creative departments at Kent State have had time to digest the growth of AI technology in the arts and have drawn a line in the sand.
As a junior student majoring in art education, Kai Clark stands at the forefront of the rapidly changing art world. Clark serves as the vice president of the Kent State chapter of the National Art Education Association (NAEA). While the association says that educators should integrate AI into curriculum to “expand students’ artistic horizons,” Clark harbors a different sentiment.
The art education major argues that artificial intelligence is largely redundant and not worth the costs.
“It’s not going to tell us anything that we really don’t already know ourselves. I think that’s the general energy that, at least at the Kent State chapter, we are anti AI.”
Clark also recognizes the ease with which AI services can circumvent the tedium of schoolwork.
“I think the use of AI is probably a bit more common in the art building than one might think… things like writing an artist statement about a piece that you made, just certain things that maybe art minded people aren’t wanting to do or wanting to spend time on, that are equally a part of being an artist, but maybe the less glamorous parts of it,” Clark explains.
It may come as a shock to students to find that Kent State faculty are in agreement with NAEA. As director for the Visual Communication Design Department, as well as the Emerging Media and Technology Department, designer Daniel Alenquer sees both sides of the story.
“Like most of the tools that humans invent, [AI] can be used for good; it can be used for bad, right? And the ways that we individually choose to use these tools, I think matters a lot,” Alenquer says.
Things like AI-generated memes and videos are what Alenquer calls the bad side of AI, referring to that kind of content as “AI slop.”
The explosion of AI’s popularity in the creative industry is undeniable, with AI companies buying advertisement space at the Super Bowl to promote their services, and marketing giants like Coca-Cola making entire commercials with artificially generated scenes.
As a visual design industry veteran, Alenquer confirms that at least for now, AI is a big part of the design market that students need to recognize.
“Understand the limitations of the tools and situations where you are allowed to use it and not allowed to use the tool,” Alenquer says. “This is the same here at Kent State as it is in the industry.”
While many art students, like Kai Clark, have made it very clear how they feel about AI, there may be some truth to the lasting power that the technology is accumulating.
Clark contests this idea: “Within the art field, we’re realizing that we’ve been fed a lie about AI, that AI can do so many great things, and maybe it could, but it’s doing a lot more harm than good. It’s not true that this piece of technology is inevitable.”
Myles Arnott is a writer.
