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When Melanie Luther first saw a posting from Calgary Public Library (CPL) for a residency open to an artist who uses artificial intelligence, she thought it was a joke.
“It just sounded really bad and strange to be prioritizing an AI artist, which is a term that I find also kind of contradictory, especially versus hiring an actual artist,“ said Luther, who is an illustrator and tattoo artist in Calgary.
The library is offering a 10-week community engagement residency, to be awarded to one artist “in any discipline who [uses] AI ethically as a collaborative partner in their creative process,” the CPL said in a post on social media.
The position will run from June 29 to Sept. 4, with a maximum of $8,000 in compensation. Anyone interested has until April 7 to apply.
“We are looking for artists who are answering, or trying to answer, the questions that artificial intelligence raises in relation to creativity and art,” said Millicent Mabi, the library’s programming director.
“We hope to support the community to better understand [and] critically evaluate how they’re engaging in an informed manner with artificial intelligence.”
Mabi says as AI becomes more prevalent, it presents both opportunities and challenges, and the CPL wants the library to be a space where conversations about it can unfold.
The successful candidate will participate in public engagement during their residency, through free programs, workshops and one-on-one consultations, she said.
Post met with pushback
Luther was not alone in her reaction. Hundreds responded to the library’s post about the position, with the majority of the comments seeming to be negative.
Melanie Luther has been working as an illustrator and graphic designer for 13 years, and is also a tattoo artist. She said an AI artist is a “contradictory term.” (Melanie Luther)
Luther worries about the environmental impacts of AI, and says it raises issues of plagiarism, since generative AI trains on existing content.
“This can’t be really something that an artist can take ownership of as like, ‘oh, I made this.’ You didn’t though. And it’s okay that you didn’t make that, but I don’t think you can pretend that you made that,” said Luther.
Researcher Maura Grossman says it could be possible to create AI art ethically — say for example, if the AI models used were trained on art that is licensed or provided with permission.
In 2024, Grossman, a professor in the computer science department at the University of Waterloo, surveyed fiction writers about their experiences with generative AI. Many were vehemently opposed to it.
She says for some, art by its nature showcases a personal experience, making AI art antithetical. But for others, the point of art is primarily to be aesthetically pleasing, in which case AI art might not be as ethically murky for them.
It could also be seen as a potential equalizer she said, though added many artists may be unlikely to agree.
“You might say it’s great, because somebody who has zero creativity may be able to go onto a tool and create something that they could never have created before, because they didn’t have the skillset or the training,” she said.
Library reviewing feedback
Mabi says CPL has seen the pushback, and understands people have different perspectives when it comes to AI.
“That’s part of where we’re coming in to create that space and bring in experts to help people engage meaningfully with these topics,” she said.
“We truly value the community’s feedback, and we’re taking it into consideration.”
For Luther, the online rebuttal is important.
“I think all of the anger and frustration that’s being directed at the library, I think they need to actually pay attention to it instead of just being like, ‘yeah, we hear what you’re saying,’” said Luther.
While this is the first program the library is rolling out related to AI, Mabi says there are plans for more to come, including a course on AI and misinformation.