Al can create stunning portraits, but what does that mean for the art world?

Got asked this question the other day.

Al can create stunning portraits, but what does that mean for the art world?

It will probably create a little more competition in terms of commercial art and designers because there will be more people using it to create art and it will probably bring the costs down slightly for digital creators.

I suspect that it will affect the costs slightly of print on demand and also lower the value of digital illustrators. Reduced money for digital illustrators. For example, photo illustration and running photographic portraits through Photoshop and running some filters to distort, stylize and change how they look has been a standard for more than 15 years. Most portraits in magazines and online publications already have been manipulated so I don’t think this will change. I think more people will take photos, run them through AI and sell them on platforms like Society 6 and Redbubble. I don’t think that AI will have a significant affect on people who want to buy a physical canvas or watercolor of a person or a one of a kind portrait for example, an oil on canvas.

In terms of commissioned portraits it probably won’t affect the higher end of the market. When people commission a portrait they have several things in mind. They are buying a physical product made by a specific person. I am buying a “Sargent” oil on canvas. It will be one of a kind made by a specific person. Other things that affect this are the fact that AI still doesn’t deal with creating texture and original works or art often valued because of the texture.