Episode Transcript
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(00:09):
Welcome back to Art SupplyInsiders .
My name is Jeff Morrow andtoday we've got a really, really
cool subject from some goodfriends of ours in the industry.
We're talking with AlisonNearpass and she's with Arteza,
and y'all might remember, a longtime ago we chatted with Arteza
about their wonderful groupingof products, and today we're
(00:32):
going to talk about something alittle bit different.
So before I give it away, letme say Alison, welcome to the
show.
Alison (00:40):
Thank you so much.
I'm excited to be back.
Jeff (00:43):
Well, we are really glad
to have you back, and today
we're going to be talking aboutAI, our artificial intelligence.
So let me just jump in, and Isee that you guys launched a
real art campaign and you'vereally kind of taken a strong
public stance on AI.
(01:05):
Tell us a little bit about whatyou guys are doing.
Alison (01:09):
Sure.
So the real art message isreally a celebration of tactile
creation, leading with thestance that real art isn't
artificial and, as you can see,this sort of play on words is us
officially entering theconversation on artificial
intelligence and, to be candid,our stance on this is really
(01:32):
nuanced, as our many artistsstance on the topic, and this is
a result of an extensive amountof research and education on
the topic.
That landed us in a place wherewe felt really passionately
about leveraging our platform,and leveraging our platform to
us meant getting crediblepartners, sharing resources,
(01:55):
continuing to keep the artist'svoice at the center of the topic
and for as long as I've been atArteza, we have prided
ourselves on being ahuman-centric brand.
It's almost this umbrella forall that we do, and when I think
about the most human-centricbrand in the space, putting a
(02:15):
human artist at the center is anon-negotiable I couldn't agree
with you more.
Jeff (02:22):
And AI is just getting
bigger and bigger out there,
whether you watch it in yourmovies or if you even want to do
a I mean, my goodness, I'veseen AI do art you just tell it
draw a tree and it draws you4,700 different trees, right?
Alison (02:43):
It's funny you say that,
because I think we could engage
in the debate of is thatconsidered art?
And I think that's a little bitof what we tackle a bit in
terms of how we sort of view andapproach the topic in general.
Jeff (02:56):
Yeah, I agree.
So tell me how and when did youguys start talking about
artificial intelligence?
Alison (03:02):
We really started this
internal dialogue on artificial
intelligence roughly a year ago.
It was pretty soon after AIreally entered the art space in
a meaningful way.
And I remember one of thediscussions we had early on was
regarding AI generated contentwinning first place in a fine
(03:24):
art competition in Colorado.
And there was yeah, and this iswhere I go back to what you
said around is it considered art?
I mean, there was some seriousbacklash once it was uncovered
that this was actually generatedby AI and, in turn, debate over
is this okay or not?
Should this be allowed or not?
Are these pieces of content andart on the same playing field?
(03:49):
And then you know, I think mostimportantly, it started to, you
know, open a dialogue on someof the ethical boundaries you
know on the matter, and so, forus, conversation took off really
quickly with our own internalcollective of creators.
So, as you know, or you mayremember from last time, artisa
is really unique in the factthat our organization is
(04:12):
comprised of real artists,hobbyists, through fine artists,
and the topic was very real andvery urgent within this
community, even internally.
From there we, you know, weexpanded the conversation to our
ambassadors and we have areally, you know broad
ambassador group and we had oneon one interviews with many
(04:35):
artists in our community and, Iwill say, some really emotional
conversations as well.
I mean, these artists werefeeling so personally affected
about the topic, both forthemselves and for the community
as a whole.
And I think you know both ofthese sets of conversations were
(04:55):
, you know, sort of us as peoplehaving real conversations with
real artists.
We talked about the fear ofcopyright infringement, the fear
of losing jobs and work, theacceptance of AI and concepting
and so on, and you know the rawand very open dialogue was so
(05:16):
helpful and so impactful for usin terms of understanding all of
the bad and potentially whatthe good could be from these
platforms.
And so from there, we assembleda task force, so a team of six
of us internally were and stillare really dedicated to this
(05:38):
topic.
We still meet almost daily.
We follow all new stories,recent articles and publications
.
You know current public andsocial sentiment.
We just stay really current andreally informed on what's going
on in the space.
At the same time, you know westarted reaching out to other
(05:59):
parties in this space as well.
You know we fully acknowledge.
You know we are not lawyers orlegal experts, but we felt the
need to have a really robust androunded out point of view and
we connected with law experts,new app companies, professors, I
(06:20):
mean we really spend time andresources getting educated on
the things that weren't, youknow, necessarily originally in
our scope of expertise.
Jeff (06:30):
What you guys are doing is
so important because AI is here
to stay, and the only way thatwe can manage our way through
this dense forest is by havingconversations about what's right
, what's not right, what are weaccepted, what's acceptable to
us?
And so tell us a little bit ofsome of the AI platforms that
(06:55):
you're referring to, that take apublic stance on the topic, and
how do they work?
Alison (07:03):
Mid Journey and Dahli
are two of the more popular AI
platforms in the visual artspace.
To use these programs say, forexample, I was using Mid Journey
I would start by entering atext prompt.
This text prompt would be adescription of how I want the
(07:23):
piece I'm trying to create tolook From there.
It essentially scrapes contentfrom the internet to return an
image.
You can then continue to adjustthe prompts and tweak and
generate new images until you'resatisfied with your result.
This is done in seconds, withina few strokes of a keyboard.
(07:46):
I think it's important to note.
With the scraping of thecontent, these AI platforms are
pulling from existing workalready out there.
Majority of rich is withoutconsent of the original artists
themselves.
Jeff (08:03):
Wow, I mean, this is just
such a broad category.
I guess that there is alegitimate reason for having
this kind of art within its own,I guess, classification.
But, dahli, we really want tohave that human touch where you
(08:30):
put a brush in your hand and youput it in paint and you put it
on a surface.
That's what makes it sointeresting and motivating and
emotional, isn't it?
Alison (08:41):
Yeah, for us we
understand and acknowledge that
AI can be a supplementary toolfor artists.
It can be interesting andconcepting and there are usages
of it when used ethically andappropriately, that makes sense.
But we really disagree with thenotion that this replaces the
(09:07):
human, creative, tactile journeywhich for us will and I hope
the community will continue toremain so important for so many
reasons.
Jeff (09:18):
Yeah, you said the word
there community.
The art world is a community,as seen when we go to all of our
shows and we go to see all ofthese different pieces of art
displayed.
It seems to me that the veryreason you guys took a public
(09:38):
stance on this topic is kind ofwhat you were just talking about
, right?
Alison (09:44):
Exactly, it became
really clear to us that the
visual art community was beingdeeply affected by the use of AI
but lacked protection.
Different than some of ouradjacent industries, the visual
art community has no governingbody that houses artists' rights
at the center.
With that, we continue to seeand read about and hear about
(10:10):
more and more artist's IP beingripped off with no proper
regulations or compensation inplace.
If we draw a parallel to anadjacent industry, we can use
the SAG strike as an example,which I'm sure we were all
watching very closely.
A big part of what they werefighting for were contracts that
(10:32):
included provisions onartificial intelligence.
I mean this 118-day strike, Ibelieve, was the longest in
Hollywood history.
Now, as a result, theseperformers secured, amongst
other things, consent andcompensation guardrails on the
use of AI.
This is a really big deal.
(10:53):
It's acknowledging the need forthese protections for the
talent.
It doesn't mean that AI won'tbe used as a tool in the film
industry either.
It just further ensures thatthese actors are protected and
their right to consent isprotected and their right to
fair compensation is protectedas it relates to the use of
(11:15):
generative AI.
I mean that's a really big stepforward for the talent in that
industry.
We need the same rally cry forour visual artists, the same
awareness of the need for rightsand regulations property
protecting, indoor compensatingour artists.
These conversations need to behad in our space as well.
(11:36):
Frankly, beyond the protectionof artists' rights, there are
many other reasons why we feltcompelled to use our platform to
share the message Also.
Think about the artist newly ontheir creative journey.
Deciding about art school ordeciding about embarking on
(11:58):
learning a new craft.
Somewhat confine themselves,opting out simply by deciding a
few strokes of a keyboard iseasier, or assume their craft
won't be relevant in the futuredue to an AI replacement.
I mean, how sad is that for thefuture of our industry and our
(12:19):
artists?
Jeff (12:20):
Oh, it's incredibly sad.
We can't lose that tactile partof any art, whether you're
painting or sculpting orphotography.
I know Arteza has always seemedto be on the leading edge of
what's current and what'shappening in the art industry.
(12:43):
Does Arteza have a formalstance on AI in the art industry
?
Alison (12:48):
We do.
First and foremost, we areagainst artist IP being ripped
off without their consent.
No royalties paid or noregulations in place, period.
We also fundamentally disagreewith the notion that
AI-generated content is art bydefinition.
Art is human-created skill inimagination and we simply do not
(13:11):
consider AI human and, frankly,don't want to.
We also believe in the value oftactile creation and that it
has irreplaceable value for themind and the body for all
creators.
We also believe in creatorshaving the resources and the
education they need to protectthemselves and all of their
(13:33):
creative genius.
And I think lastly I mentionedthis earlier we understand that
AI can be used as a tool tosupport creators.
We love tools as long as theydon't replace the human creative
journey.
There's really a differencebetween concepting an idea and
(13:53):
then physically allowing it tounfold, versus just clicking a
button and watching it appear,and I think that that's some of
what we're talking about here aswell.
And I think it's important tosay we're an organization that
embraces progress and evolutionin the industry.
We consider ourselves a youngand disruptive brand.
(14:16):
We're not anti-tech.
We love technology.
We're not anti-progress, butwhere we do draw the line is
when it comes to AI and theethical boundaries associated
with it.
I mean, speaking of tech, we'remuch more excited about some of
the new apps out there, such asGlaze and Nightshade, and these
apps that are actually emergingand designed to better protect
(14:41):
artists work against AI.
Jeff (14:43):
You know, as you were
talking, it just hit me that art
, and even craft, is a journeyof discovery.
It's all about what is thepeace saying to me in the moment
, because we all know we're notgoing to paint the same picture
two days in a row.
It's all dependent upon ourmoods and the atmosphere and how
(15:08):
we're feeling and what we'reseeing.
So what do you say about peoplewho draw parallels to past
events and say, ah, it's nothingto worry about, with AI, it'll
all come out in the wash.
Alison (15:24):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I
think the most common and
probably obvious parallel we'vediscussed is when photography
emerged in the 1800s.
I mean, at the time, artistswere commissioned to paint
portraits and landscapes andpainting was, you know,
primarily to capture an image.
(15:44):
Photography came and wasseemingly a threat to this.
It was a threat to artists, totheir livelihood, their
commissions.
What we also know is the rolethis played in the rise of
impressionism Artists feelingfree to represent art in an
entirely new way, represent whatthey saw in an entirely new way
(16:06):
.
I mean, you think about, youknow, more focus on light and
color and movement and paintingand creating in ways that
photography could not.
I go back to the idea that theantidote to this was more
creating.
It was new creating.
It was things that didn't existyet, things people had never
(16:28):
conceived of yet in the artspace.
And the learning and you know,the thing I draw from this now
is the value is in the newtactile creation, the new
innovation in our art space.
Because imagine a world I mean,as mentioned before, ai is
(16:49):
really scraping the internet ofworks from the past.
Imagine a world where all artis just iterations of works from
the past.
I mean, I firmly believe thenext movement in art won't come
from AI.
It will come from us humanartists and creators, and that's
(17:11):
a statement that makes me happy.
I believe that's the way itshould be.
Jeff (17:16):
Well, I can't agree with
you more and I keep hitting on
this word journey.
It's just, it's so intenselypersonal.
And you know, there was asports magazine that recently
used AI to write an article andthey didn't disclose that and it
(17:40):
seemed like it was an articlethat came from a real person and
there was nothing about it thatwas real.
It was just all kind of made up.
So what are you guys, what isour T's doing about this as a
brand?
Alison (17:56):
We started a coalition
in partnership with the Center
for Art Law called CHAP, so it'sa coalition for human artist
protection and we areencouraging brands and artists
alike to join on and support themission to drive awareness and
share resources.
We also have a dedicatedlanding page on our website,
(18:19):
artisacom.
That includes our message andour resource hub, including some
how-to resources of how toprotect your work, and we'll
continue to update that with newresources and new learnings.
In partnership with the Centerfor Art Law, we've also started
an online challenge, so check usout on social media, where we
(18:42):
are encouraging artists tocreate a piece of artwork with
their handprint as a symbol ofhuman creation and tag us.
We'll share it to our story.
We'll continue to get you knowthe engagement and the
conversation going, and we havealso gotten involved with our
trade organization and we'vegotten involved as subject
matter experts, offering ourtime and our resources just to
(19:06):
help elevate the discussion inthe industry, to draw attention
and draw importance to the topic.
Jeff (19:12):
So you guys aren't
suggesting that it's an either,
or You're suggesting that weneed to just step back, have
conversations, talk about how itcan enhance and or help what it
is.
All of us artists are doingVery similar to what you talked
about in the 1800s, whenphotography came out, and now
(19:36):
people are taking picture, ortaking photography and adding
color to it and doing othersorts of things that are very
creative, right?
Alison (19:45):
I think what we're
suggesting is more so in the
sense of as we continue tounderstand that this isn't going
anywhere how are we supportingthe visual art community with
the proper regulations in placeto protect our artists in their
work?
You imagine an artist who hasspent years perfecting their
craft, perfecting their personalstyle, their personal technique
(20:09):
.
This is all then with a fewstrokes of a of a keyboard
easily replicated and spit outon the other end without proper
compensation.
And there is.
You know there's a lot tounpack with that and there's,
you know, a lot that goes intointo getting proper regulations
(20:32):
in place, but we think it's animportant topic.
Jeff (20:34):
Oh, there's no doubt that
it's an important topic.
If if any of our listeners havequestions about how AI impacts
them, their art and so forth are, are you guys a resource that
they can reach out to and justkind of maybe ask some general
(20:54):
questions?
Alison (20:56):
We are absolutely here
as a resource.
We have been here as a resourcefor artists since we began.
We want to be a resource forartists in every capacity.
We have a dedicated customerservice team that is answering
calls, answering emails aroundproduct questions, inspiration,
(21:16):
how to use certain mediums, allthings like that.
We're a resource on AIquestions here as well.
We've really gotten to a placewhere we feel confident in our
ability to share resources.
We're going to encourageartists to check out our website
, check out our how-to's andthen again continue to reach out
to us directly.
We're here to support.
Jeff (21:38):
This is really just the
beginning of the conversation,
isn't it?
I mean, there's so many facetsto talk about and to come out
and there's just so muchdiscussion that needs to be had.
Alison (21:51):
There's so much still
ongoing.
I mean, there are so manycopyright lawsuits going on
right now regarding this topic.
We are so anxious to, as wefollow along, to understand how
these things are unfolding andwhat it's going to mean in terms
of proper regulations for ourcommunity.
Jeff (22:10):
Yeah, I can't imagine all
the red tape behind the scenes
and everything that's going on.
Where can we find you and allof these resources that we've
been talking about?
Alison (22:23):
You can find us at
artisacom.
You can check out our landingpage, which is a landing page
for human art.
You can also follow us on allsocial platforms at Artisa
Official.
We are on Facebook, instagram,youtube and TikTok.
Please, we encourage you toparticipate in the challenge.
Create that piece of art usingyour handprint and tag us at
(22:48):
Artisa Official.
Jeff (22:50):
That's cool.
Now I can't let you go becausewe always ask manufacturers do
you guys have anything cool andnew coming out that you just
want to let our audience knowabout?
Alison (23:03):
We've been up to a lot
that is cool and new, Jeff.
One really interesting thingthat I would love to share about
what the brand itself has beenup to has been a retail
expansion.
You can now find us on shelf.
We have been primarily anonline player.
We've now launched in majorretailers nationwide.
(23:25):
We went from 0 to 2000 pointsof brick and mortar distribution
over the past year.
You can find us in allMichael's Doors, Select
Assortment in all Michael'sDoors.
You can find us in SelectJoanne, as well as in Select
Walmart.
Pop into your local store.
We've also been up to somereally cool and new
(23:47):
collaborations.
We've just partnered withPriority Bikes this past fall,
where we collaborated with themto raise money for vibrant
emotional health in the 988crisis hotline during suicide
prevention awareness month,where we collaborated on a
(24:08):
unique bike that you canpurchase on Priority's website,
with 100 percent of net proceedsbeing donated to the cause.
Some fun, interesting thingsthat the plans went up to From a
product standpoint.
This is where I could talk toyou about it for hours, but
we've launched some fun new SKUsthis year and we're continuing
(24:30):
to develop, and we have someexciting new things coming next
year.
We've launched some new artkits.
I tease these a little bit onour last call, but they are live
.
We've launched a skate deck artkit, which is a fully matte
black standard size skate deck.
It's truly an art piece.
(24:52):
It comes with a mount with awhite pencil for sketching our
new metallic mirrored chromemarkers as well as some other
fun paint markers in there too.
So a really fun all-inclusivekit.
We also launched our ExperienceBox program, which we've been
really excited about.
These are curated, creativeexperiences that are intended to
(25:17):
bring people together.
These are experiences that havesupplies for a party of four,
with an activity that can becompleted in under two hours, or
under $25 a person when youshake out the mask.
So we're really excited aboutthat.
We have a wine glass decoratingkit, a calligraphy kit, a
(25:38):
vision board exercise and someother fun new concepts on the
way, so we've been reallyexcited about the response We've
seen on that thus far as well.
Jeff (25:48):
Well, Arteza has always
seemed to be on the forefront of
new and exciting products, andthe fact that you are looking
out for the artist, the creator,the crafter in this world of AI
and at least starting to givethem some direction on what they
(26:10):
can do and where they can gofor more information is really
amazing.
So, Allison, thank you so muchfor being with us today.
What a great subject.
Alison (26:24):
Thank you so much for
having me.
I appreciate the opportunity totalk about it.
This topic has been very closeto a lot of our hearts and it
was exciting to be able to shareit with you.
Jeff (26:35):
Thank you.
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(26:55):
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