Greetings, all you lovely humans!
This week, I received a Christmas card and a copy of the December issue of the Smithsonian Magazine from a dear friend and supporter. Thank you, James! It’s fun to get mail.
I’m mentioning it here because the magazine’s headline reads: “Move Over Michaelangelo. Can a Robot Replace the World’s Greatest Artists?” This seems like a perfect Sci-Friday topic! We would have laughed at such a question only a few short years ago. Maybe someday, but I seriously doubt it—that’d make a great movie, though.
The thought of AI replacing artists doesn’t seem so sci-fi these days. Still, as an artist and writer who’s been honing her crafts for decades, I want to point out that humans are creators. Regardless of whether or not an AI can copy a great master’s work, there is no soul—no creative spirit—until a human supplies the technology with information.
Artists have always copied the works of great masters to improve their skills. But the dif…