this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2025
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55
Christie's First-Ever AI Art Auction Earns $728,000, Plus Controversy (www.cnet.com)
submitted 14 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
17 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

More than 5,600 artists signed an open letter protesting the auction, saying that the works used AI models that are trained on copyrighted work.

A representative for Christie's shared a statement about the issue. "From the beginning, two things have been true about the art world: one, artists are inspired by what came before them, and two, art can spark debate, discussion, and controversy," the statement reads. "The discussions around digital art, including art created using AI technology, are not new and in many ways should be expected. Many artists -- Pop artists, for example -- have been the subject of similar discussions. Having said that, Christie's, a global company with world-class experts, is uniquely positioned to explore the relatively new and ever-changing space of digital art: the artists, collectors, market and challenges."

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 hours ago

I'm actually against AI art since creative professions are already lacking in labor rights, and it's going to get worse now that they're trying to make artists replaceable.

But one of the worst things about it, to me, is that it's caused artists to start going to bat for IP laws. IP law is the reason you don't get to finish that story you spent years on, because HBO deleted it in a tax write-off. You don't even get to talk about what it might have been like, because you're under NDA.

Now people want it to be illegal to be influenced by copyrighted things. Great.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

This anti-AI propaganda talking point is getting old.

Value each artist's input at what it is: if there is no input, then it's slop; if there is input, value the input.

Some works of art, long predating AI, for your consideration:

[–] [email protected] 24 points 11 hours ago

The best part of artwork is when you can see an artists personality through their art. Because Ai art is just stolen from other people who have poured their energy into their craft, it completely ruins the point.

It feels cheap. But because of this garbage, it's also made me appreciate real art so much more.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 hours ago (3 children)

More than 5,600 artists signed an open letter protesting the auction, saying that the works used AI models that are trained on copyrighted work.

All artists are trained on copyrighted work.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago) (1 children)

except AI isn't human, obviously. so corporations can deploy millions of instances to churn out slop while crediting no one, thus erasing all the cultures that went into said slop.

while all the remaining artists become even more impoverished from the devaluing of their art. there's a name for this behavior if a human was doing it, it's called being a scab

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours ago

thus erasing all the cultures that went into said slop.

Nobody's art is being deleted, what are you trying to say here?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours ago

Let's abolish all copyright then, since everything is influenced upon things that came before it. Right?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 hours ago

Yeah, this is what I don't get. "Good artists copy, great artists steal." This is a quote for a reason. Everything is just a remix of something else. Just look at the shit Andy Warhol put out.

Also, you can't copyright AI art, so I'm not sure what the point of paying money for AI art is for.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Only a moron would pay for this, let alone $700K

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 hours ago

How dare those AIs draw inspiration from the things they've seen without compensating the IP holders.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (1 children)

Reminds me of the way that many DJ's do little more than press play. The "brand-name" of the "artist" becomes more important than the art.

If the public's appreciation of art is dumbed down, then it is logical for art to be dumbed down too.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours ago

except actual humans do work on that and get royalties for shadow producing those pre-recorded sets. not comparable

[–] [email protected] 16 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

In what world does it take two people to "make" a piece of malformed AI schlock?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 13 hours ago

Herndon and Dryhurst are frequent collaborators, and xhairymutantx is their work. So they didn't just prompt an LLM to make the image, they trained the model themselves. And they specifically trained the model on pictures of Herndon (who has distinctive red, braided hair).

I'm personally a really big fan of their work (which I don't expect everyone to be), but the picture that's being circulated in articles and apparently sold at auction without context is pretty uninspiring.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

That print does actually look pretty nice, but I hate how inconsistent the two images are. It'd drive me fing crazy to have those prints on my wall when the continuity of design is so clearly lacking.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

I see it as a time capsule, capturing a moment in time in the medium's evolution. I mean, check out the first ever AI-generated image that sold for $432,500 USD back in 2018: