Wrote this somewhere else that I can’t remember, but wanted to re-capture the thought here as I think it’s an important one.

In my mind, the correct way to use AI tools as an artist (or writer) is not necessarily (strictly) to use them to “create art.” Because anybody can do that, and get similar results, whether “artist” or non-artist… that’s the point, that they are democratizing technologies.

So instead, what feels right to me as an artist (ymmv) is to interact with the tools in such a way that you “interrogate” them broadly, deeply, and meaningfully. In other words, engage with them at a level that only an artist could or would think to do. Whatever that is will be different for everybody (and in the end, perhaps there is no such thing as a “non-artist” – but still). As them probing questions, challenge them on what they can do, explore the boundaries of the possible, and document it all alongside the reactions and impacts it all seems to have on real people.

That is, transcend the single-image output as your end product. Obviously, if you’re doing the above deep interrogation of the essence of these tools, you’ll generate hundreds or thousands of intermediate products (whether images or text) along the way. Let that become your trail, the record left in the wake of your passing through with honesty, curiosity, and creative rigor.

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