The future of online art classes?

[MissMushy]

Saw this interesting article on Proko exploring AI to help students get feedback on their fundamental drawing skills. https://www.forbes.com/sites/robsalkowitz/2019/07/30/anatomy-of-success-how-a-youtube-star-is-using-ai-to-reinvent-art-education/#3f9cdf644af3
I was at first really excited by this idea since that feedback has been so difficult to get when you’re not part of a real life art class or community. But now am not so sure. Drawing is more than mechanics/technique. Wonder how AI would manage the human factor that gives drawing life.
What do you guys think?

[bathyscaph]

Thanks for the article. AI won't help with technique but it could help with pointing out potential issues with anatomy and form. It could for example recognize a pose you've created and generate a similar pose for comparison and then highlight the differences between the two; leaving the artist to determine who's take is stronger.

Since there is such a huge database of anatomical renderings available to train an AI this could be a really interesting tool. I am all for this.

[BichonBistro]

@MissMushy I saw that too—would love it for perspective!

[NessIllustration]

@MissMushy I think it could help in some aspects - the purely technical aspects that are some of the hardest to explain anyway. Sometimes to us artist, something "feels" wrong but there's so much going on to consider that we might miss something that a computer might not. But there's a clear cap for what AI can do as far as creativity, message and intent, and offering original creative solutions.

We've been seeing more and more AI replace people in all kinds of different industries, but the one sector that remains untouched is creative jobs. There is a clear limit there as to what AI can do and humans will always be necessary there. I've seen a lot of articles say that the best bet is to learn creative skills and creative thinking as this is where jobs of the future will be.

Anyway, I'm interested in this technology! My guess is that it will work a little bit like a spellcheck software: it will be able to identify glaring mistakes, but won't be able to tell you if the story is interesting, if your sentence sounds natural or if there are any plot holes.

[Christine Dion]

Interesting article. It sounds good in theory. However as a high school art teacher, it’s the 1:1 communication, it’s getting to know the artist behind the work, it’s leaning into building a community that helps us thrive as artists. When I’ve taken the classes here on SVSlearn.com, it was the posting of the critiques, the interactions with the instructors that kept me coming back for more.

I hired 2 business coaches this year and rebuilt my entire website so I can launch private online drawing lessons to a limited number of students that I can pour all of my love of drawing into them and help them to grow as artists. No amount of artificial intelligence can compensate for that.

[MissMushy]

@mrsdion I tend to agree - it will have its limitations. Never had an art teacher in my life growing up (our culture was very focused on kids becoming drs. lawyers, so arts was actively discouraged etc.) Now in my 50s, I am having limited success recreating/compensating for that lost opportunity. The forums here in SVS are a good spot to get pearls of wisdom for sure.

[Christine Dion]

@MissMushy Wow, I had both good and bad experiences with art teachers as I was growing up. It’s wonderful that at our age (I’m 51) you are able to discover the joy of art! I just started following you on Instagram, looking forward to seeing your work!

[avfarrar]

I agree with @NessIllustration that AI would be very useful as a kind of "spell check" for art on framing, perspective, etc (man that would be useful! :smiling_face_with_open_mouth: ) .

One of the things that concerns me, though, is that artists would maybe begin to focus mostly on only using the AI for feedback, causing them to be used to and conform themselves to the boundries of the AI's creativity, thus leaning toward ridged art. People naturally have creativity, but can they train themselves out of it (in a sense) if they believe and were taught that's how art should be done?
This may be feasible in the future if in our societies we would be surrounded by AI doing many jobs more efficiently. In this environment would even artists eventually believe that AI and its information/feedback is more reliable than human creativity? And would ridged AI art become what people would be more comfortable/used to if that is the kind of environment they are immersed in?

Rabbit-trail of thought I know , but an interesting thought.

[MissMushy]

@avfarrar yes help with perspective would be very useful for sure! this technology would probably need a disclaimer to guard against one becoming overly reliant on it for feedback on all aspects of your work. Sounds like the start of a scary sci fi movie

[avfarrar]

@MissMushy lol :smiling_face_with_open_mouth_closed_eyes: