Today, one can simply type a prompt into AI and get a piece of art or melody back. However, this process doesn’t make real art. Real art is made from effort and time, coming from an artist’s soul, which is unfortunately being stolen to make a soulless representation of it through AI.

From the dawn of writing, there have been short poems to full novels in order to write, describe feelings, explain a topic or simply just to write. These pieces have soul because they were made by people who cared deeply about their craft and took time to produce a product that was truly theirs. AI is taking the people out of this writing, instead producing a soulless replacement, reducing a process that took time and effort into a prompt and a button.

Some like to argue about the accessibility of AI art as a reason for its use, but everyone is capable of making art, even if it’s not in the drawing sense. Art ranges from detailed paintings to a few notes of a piano. The famous musician Ludwig van Beethoven was deaf even while composing some of his greatest works. He could have simply given up on music, but it was his soul and artistic drive that kept him going despite the hurdles he faced. He spent so much more time and effort than a non-deaf person or AI would just for the same result to give his music soul and meaning behind it.

When training AI, companies use databases made from the works of millions, almost certainly without credit or pay. This is a process that steals from artists at all levels and of all styles, using their hard work to create a copy with no meaning behind it. Afterward, they sell this stolen art as if the consumer made it.

Simply put, AI art isn’t real art. It is simply a soulless impression of what artists dedicate their time and energy to make. It takes away the fundamental meaning of art being a medium for people to express themselves, instead turning it into a soulless jumble of colors.