“I could have done that!” and “I could have done that!” are probably two of the most common statements made by the general public when they are in the presence of art and artists. ” and “wow, I wish I had half your talent!” ”. These statements are obviously diametrically opposed; the former is a derogatory or flat ignorant statement frequently referring to a piece of contemporary art, and the latter is a genuine compliment to an artist regarding their work and skill level.
After visiting Art Basel Miami or any number of contemporary art galleries, it’s difficult to disagree with the sentiment that anyone could have done something like the banana under duct tape, but as they say in the art world, “…but you didn’t.”
From here, it’s easy to imagine AI producing animations and feature-length films based on storyboards. Could this lead to Disney being disrupted, and if so, when? Who will emerge victorious at the end of this upheaval? Storytellers? Certainly not visual artists.
As with any previous disruptive technology, it appears that society will ultimately benefit. Sure, jobs are shuffled, and sometimes entire cities are abandoned as their industries die, but over time, people are retrained, new opportunities emerge, and we progress with more conveniences, entertainment, and higher quality, lower cost goods. The key is to manage disruption, and this is a call to artists, businesses, marketing executives, and AI creators to pay attention to this space because significant change is on the way, and it is up to you to prepare for it.