The Renaissance 

The Renaissance changed how we create art; AI will change our perception of it. This article is about the artistic techniques developed during the Renaissance, when artists began to convey new messages through their art. Their ideas affect art today. But what about new advances in technology? Just as Renaissance art shapes modern art today, how will AI art impact the future?

To understand the future, we must look to the past. So why are art history teachers so crazy about the Renaissance? The Renaissance spans from the fifteenth to eighteenth century. It was a period of expression and advancement in Europe, during which art became very realistic and mathematically tuned. People were drawn as 3D figures in dynamic poses, and backgrounds became detailed and sculpted into perspectives. While Renaissance paintings may be populated with waxy-skinned figures (who look frighteningly similar), and its sculptures shaped with maybe a little too much attention to detail, I can’t dismiss its impact on life today. 

So if the Renaissance invented three-point perspective, and we use three-point perspective today, and we invent AI art, what will children learn in art class in the future? What is AI art and how does it work? AI art is art created by computers. Programs take huge datasets of photos, drawings, and music. Based on a written description by the user, the program will make art. Sometimes this art can be very scary. Most of the time it can be indistinguishable from Da Vinci. There’s no need for talent these days! AI art takes away the need for skill and replaces it with the need for creativity. 

This is totally new in the art world. Everyday people can sell their AI art! But if skill does not matter, then what does? Creativity? “‘'For the last thousand years or so, art has been evolving and that’s mostly been done by humans,” Nisheeth Vishnoi, co-founder of the Computation and Society Initiative, said. “So with AI coming into play, I expect things to get more creative’” (CITE). AI forces the art away from expertise, and towards the fundamentals of humanity.

The last time we transformed art, over five hundred years ago, we wanted to portray the world realistically. Today, people all around the world use math and science to create appealing art. In the future, I believe we will turn away from these “ideally proportioned” subjects. What is the purpose of art? AI might just help us find out.