This is a follow up to my previous note about art direction.
I mentioned my thoughts to a friend and they brought up the theory of the Leisure Class. The general idea is that to make good art requires skill and craft in order to make something that is largely ‘unproductive’. This requires some level of wealth or patronage to obtain that leisure time.
AI Art subverts this idea. It’s quick and cheap to make compared to building craft over years. I think this is probably why it feels like cheating and comes off as cheap, even if the art work was conveying the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of the artist just like a hand crafted work.