Lensa AI art has taken over social media with many users rushing to create avatars for their profiles. With the modern contemporary art with cheap prices and produced in minutes, how could they resist? However, this program is committing art theft and is facing no consequences.

Lensa AI is using its program to analyze digital art already out on the internet and imitating styles and patterns, but many artists have noticed that this program is producing art that looks way too similar to theirs. “Having an AI learn from other artist’s works and create a piece that looks extremely similar for someone else to sell, feels unfair,” Lotus Noon (12) said.

These programs have developed due to the amount of art on the internet. This has made artists more skeptical about posting on social media. “I think AI, whether it be for art or writing, is wrong,” Noon said. “They just go on to public domains, find media to take and slightly change it.”

While this program is stealing art, the coding behind it is fascinating and some artists are intrigued and impressed. “I also do think it’s really cool that people are developing this kind of technology,” Noon said. “It just depends on how it’s being used and making sure it is only used for good.”

Artists are usually commissioned for their work and with these programs on the rise they are worried that will lessen and they’ll lose business. “Before an artist would have to commission someone that helps their business and now customers can just look it up on the AI,” Julianna Wiezorek (11) said.

Many artists who use online platforms to promote and sell their work are calling for stricter copyright laws. “I know a lot of people put watermarks on their work online to try to keep people from copying their work,” Paul Bonner, MSHS art teacher said. “But I think they’re going to have to have stricter parameters like that in posting work.” 

Posting online is so easy, but you don’t know who may or who has access to your page and what their intentions are. “I think they just gotta be more mindful of what’s out there and how people can easily access things these days,” Bonner said.

Art is always changing, and technology is advancing as our society progresses, but the ethical implications need to consider as well. “Art is a process and it changes throughout time,” Noon said. “You have look at traditional media versus digital art and how it changes and how people use it and how it really matters,” Noon said.