The spread of generative AI and its impact on real artists

By Skyla Rogers

According to Forbes, 71% of images on social media were AI-generated by March of 2025. Generative AI has quickly become commonplace for social media users. 

Artist and performer Java Collins has been weary of AI since even before its increased introduction to society.

“I immediately thought, like, woah technology is advancing way faster than I thought,” They said. “At the time I was ignorant to the fact that the content used to generate these photos were stolen images.”

Collins believes that AI will only become more frustrating for artists because it removes the element of skill and focus from their art. 

“I believe that it impacts me in a way that I can’t yet see,” They explained. “The people that have no issue with AI are less likely to commission me for my art as they can ask any computer to generate any image they’d like.”

Like Collins, fellow artist Jessica Munhall is cynical towards this technology. She fears the reliance society has developed on AI, with children learning to become more accustomed to plugging in a question and getting the answer without using critical thinking. The same could potentially be said for art. These same people, who are learning to use AI in everyday life, might just use this same technology to get an image they want immediately, rather than commissioning and waiting for an artist.

This fear is not unfounded. In fact, in a 2025 Stanford Business study conducted by Samuel Goldberg and H. Tai Lam, it was concluded that the number of online images for sale increased after the introduction of generative AI entered the market. Subsequently, images created by humans suffered a drop. Moreso, humans began showing a preference for such AI images over those created by humans.

“Ai doesn’t need to sleep, ai doesn’t need to eat,” said Munhall. “We are seeing ramifications across the board.”

Munhall never thought AI chatbots like ChatGPT would gain so much traction. She recalls first seeing AI book covers, then AI seeping into writing. According to a 2025 survey from BookBub, which involved over 1,200 authors, when questioned on whether they used AI in writing, marketing, etc. 45% of writers responded yes. 

Artist of at least a decade, Madi Sattern, thinks about the future of AI with an emphasis on its inconsistency and the financial instability of popular AI companies. She references OpenAI’s video generator, Sora, which will reportedly be shut down on April 26th of this year. 

She further criticises the accessibility of AI image generators, claiming she has seen its impact even on the reputation of artists who don’t use genAI. 

“AI is already changing art as we know it,” she explains. “Artists who don’t use ai are being accused of using it, [and] some artists are actually implementing ai into their workflow and essentially scamming others with commissions that are partially or mostly AI without telling the commissioner.”

That being said, Sattern has overall noticed a sense of community develop amongst artists and those who commission works as there is shared distaste for the production of AI art and an effort to uplift artists who do not use it.

GenAI has been commended for giving greater accessibility to those who cannot afford commissions, however, these artists encourage people to start creating art themselves. 

“A lot of amazing artists didn’t start drawing well into adulthood,” Sattern said. “So it is never too late to pick up a pencil and draw. “

Currently, there is little restitution for artists whose work has been used to train genAI. This does not mean progress is not being made. Legislators Madeleine Dean and Nathaniel Moran have introduced a bipartisan bill, known as the TRAIN Act, which would allow artists to obtain access to training records of genAI to determine if their work was used to help develop the technology and pursue legal action.

The creators of this law emphasize the need for transparency of AI platforms and the ability of copyright holders to receive compensation. If passed, this would set a precedent that gives artists more control of whether their work is used in AI training. 

Overall, artists seem to feel that for people who care about art, the access to genAI won’t have a significant impact. Over time, however, it’s unclear whether this will gradually change as AI becomes more integrated within society.

 “AI does not make art more accessible,” Munhall said. “[Yes], humans have learned to create without it… [But] art is practice, art is passion.”