No, AI won't replace artists. (The truth about AI & the future of creation)

No, it won't.

“Will AI replace artists?”

I’ve wrestled with this question a lot.

I’ve gone back and forth between loathing AI, fighting against its inevitable pull, and still admiring—scathingly—how its technological foundations exceed anything we’ve come to understand before.

Most people struggle with AI in some way.

They’re either casual creators or consumers who are in denial about its rapid climb to the top of every industry, or they’re first-time entrepreneurs who dive into the world of AI with animalistic hunger—only to burn out within months because they built a business for all the wrong reasons.

Of course, there are other types of people in-between on smaller scales.

There are investors who are quick to pour their cash into an AI startup simply because they use AI.

There are agencies and freelancers using AI to mock up moodboards, publish ads, and transform their industry verticals.

There are brand photographers panicking over their client base.

There are wedding photographers wiping sweat from their brow in relief—since it’s very hard to find a couple getting married who would want AI wedding albums.

Then, there are the artists who have accepted AI’s reality.

People who love creating, use art to express themselves, and are terrified to see AI’s impact on the creative landscape.

For a long time, I was one of those people.

I would wax poetic to myself and on social media—LinkedIn, mostly—about my fears and criticisms around AI. My issues weren’t necessarily around the technology itself, but my frustration around how people have used it.

There are so, so many AI creations forged out of laziness, a lack of critical thinking, a lack of innovation, a lack of creativity, and a complete disregard for the inspiration that brought them to life—especially in the world of AI “art.”

(I refuse to call it art)

But now, I’m at this point:

We're so busy arguing about whether AI can “create,” that we've forgotten what creation actually means.

Despite how that reads, I’m not here to tell you to glorify AI and throw your paintbrushes in the bin.

I’m here to offer another perspective:

What if AI is not the enemy? What if this isn’t a question about what AI can do with our input, but a question about how we can accept into a world where real art and economic art coexist? What if this isn’t about AI taking away our agency as artists, but about AI opening up a new gateway to learn, adapt, and teach ourselves new skills? What if both AI visual curation for brand campaigns and real, from-the-heart paintings completed in your living room workshop can exist… together?

This question—or questions, I guess—are what I’m offering to you today.

I want to explore on this a little deeper below, because this is a hefty topic that deserves it—and I know that if you’re reading this, you’ve had a bitter tussle with AI at one point or another.

Art, expression, and ethics.

“Perhaps your path isn’t to conform the system to your style, but to deepen your style until it redefines the system.”

This is what my custom GPT, Hypatia, told me after I started asking her about my situation as a personal brand advisor and writer who’s trying to break through the ceiling of my industry, and rewrite the rules my way.

I’m sharing this with you because it’s a fundamental reason we all want to resist AI. It’s that inner feeling of rebellion. That stoke of flame.

It’s the one thing we feel separates us from what makes a machine, a machine.

To create art is to express. To create art ethically is an art in itself. To create a brand based on artistic expression with strong ethical standards is rare, but beautiful.

We created AI. We shouldn’t be fearing it, as if it’s in charge of designing us. It’s not. We’re responsible for how we manage and distribute work through AI systems.

That includes art—an often-abused and completely ignored area.

So, it’s bizarre to me that we’re panicking over AI when we should monitor how we use it. I know you’ve heard this a thousand times, but I don’t mean it as literally.

What I’m referring to is the awareness. Not just how AI is being implemented, but how we’re educating ourselves to use it—and understand it.

My theory is that our fear comes from a lack of understanding.

If we teach ourselves to understand what we fear, we feel more in control.

We’ll stop screaming online about how AI is both the best and worst thing to happen to humans. We’ll stop complaining about the job market because new jobs will open up. We’ll stop panicking over the soulless art on mass distribution because we realize the prints, paintings, and animated pieces worth hanging on your wall come from the human heart—and most people know this.

Instead, we’ll start looking at the bigger picture:

• AI is not the enemy, and it’s here to stay

• Art is the one thing that separates us from machines

• The solution is not to reject AI, but to understand it

• We need to trust our creativity

Machines can create decent work. This is factual.

Every day, I see AI visual creators booking work for quickly generated campaigns.

(To be fair to them, they’re legitimate art directors, designers, etc. who are being smart and getting ahead of the game—and doing a damn good job of it)

On the other hand, we have this objective truth:

Machines still need human ideation, direction, and control to operate. This requires more artistic direction and vision than ever before, and—in a way—can position the artistic vision of the mind as more economically valuable than it’s ever been.

One could argue that AI will erase the need for artistic vision.

I’m realizing that it might just be the opposite—that the fast implementation of AI could support the real vision of artists.

This allows soft skills room to develop. Less exact machinations over Figma, Photoshop, and other powerful tools—tools I value deeply—and more focus on the direction, the vision, the planning, the purpose, etc. and etc.

AI and the future of personal branding.

Personal brands are a huge part of my career. It’s my bread and butter. So, it would be wrong of me not to address the elephant in the small, cramped room:

If you treat your personal brand as art, does AI have a role in that?

In a way, yes. Absolutely.

Most content creators are automating their work with AI. They’re easily going overboard, and I would argue most of them aren’t thinking through the process, and going for fast distribution before real intention.

That’s a separate problem.

In the world of personal branding—which I do consider an art form, if you take it seriously—AI will be more prevalent now than ever.

We simply have to be prepared for it, in both a written and visual format.

Conclusion.

I’m skeptical.

But, I’m starting to see more of the hidden advantage.

Because the artists who have saved their expression for real artwork are using their soft skills to create AI-generated work at a highly competitive space.

I think this will allow more room for coexisting.

Even with all of these thoughts…

Time will tell.

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If you’re new here, welcome. I’m Taylor, a writer, personal brand advisor, and generalist dedicated to unraveling the art, purpose, and philosophy of personal branding for individuals in an AI-dominated world.

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