AI is creating a 'massive explosion' in creative content but opinions are divided.

In the past year, professional artists have won prestigious competitions - including the Sony World Photography Awards and Colorado State Fair.

The executive officer of Google, Sundar Puchai, has admitted to losing sleep over AI's rapid progression. He told 60 Minutes that AI was developing quickly and could be "very harmful" if used the wrong way.

So, should we be worried?

ACM spoke to an expert about what AI means for Australia's creative future.

Associate Professor Oliver Bown researches creative AI, along with the role of digital technology in art and music. His 2021 book, 'Beyond the Creative Species' examined the role computers have on creativity.

Professor Bown said until recently, AI art required the artist to train the data and understand specific inputs.

"Once the network had been trained in a specific style, say, it would be used to generate images out," he said.

The last three or four years have seen text-to-image systems emerge, which allows almost anyone to create AI works.

"Those systems are incredibly good at what they do," Professor Bown said.

"You don't have to have any programming skill or skill in the area of practice.

"From a commercial point of view, it is good and bad," he said. "It makes it much easier to produce things, but in doing so people can be put out of work."

He said this could mean "more people doing more stuff more of the time - just a massive explosion in creative content" along with a devaluation of work.

Online sites like AI Generated Art Shop and Art AI Gallery boast an artistic "revolution", where thousands of works are created quickly.

But Professor Bown said it was important not to focus just on the commercial side of making art. Artists needed community around them, where their ideas could be celebrated.

"Great painting, great photography, great music has traditionally involved having to have a lot of skill and do a lot of practice.

"Technology is making these skills more accessible to all. That can undermine the effects of what we like about effort and immersion in activity," he said.

Australian writer Amie McNee, who runs an Instagram account with a 152-thousand strong following, shared how she was both fearful and excited for the change. Using Instagram stories, she explained how AI such as ChatGPT had helped her explore scenes for an upcoming novel.

Ms McNee held concern for crediting artists, both for the creation of work and in how AI is trained. Most databases are 'taught' via existing artworks and collate huge databases.

Professor Bown said the social lines around copyright were blurred for much of AI. Legally, usual copyright infringement applied.

"It is really on a case-by-case basis. What I expect to happen is you'll have communities for whom using AI will be considered 'cheating' and you'll have communities for whom using AI would be considered an area of great interest," he said.

But the art world might not yet be ready for such advanced technology.

The 2023 Sony World Photography Awards was won by German photographer Boris Eldagsen. He took out the creative open entry with an AI work entitled Pseudomnesia: The Electrician.

In a statement shared on his website, the artist said he had been a "cheeky monkey", whose work was selected in "a historic moment", while questioning if any judged "knew or suspected that it was AI-generated".

Mr Eldgasen did not accept the award.

"AI images and photography should not compete with each other in an award like this ... they are different entities," he said.

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