About the Artist Spotlights
The Artist Spotlights on this site include AI-generated images based on a single artist modifier (usually "in the style of [artist name] along with an AI-generated overview of the artist's life and artistic style. At the end of each spotlight, Thus, although at first glance they may appear to be a brief biography of the artist, they are really more of a study of the interaction of AI and the artist, or AI's "interpretation" of the artist.
Background of the Artist Spotlights
One of the great benefits of getting involved with AI-assisted art for me has been a renewed interest in artists and art styles. AI-assisted art has motivated me to learn and explore art in a way I haven't experienced before. The results that can be achieved with a few carefully placed prompt modifiers are satisfying beyond words, and yet leave me only wanting to create more. This desire to create more, and learn more, has led to the study of artists on this site.
My initial explorations of artists consisted primarily of looking up artists on Wikipedia and other websites. As I began working on the "Artist Spotlights" for this site, I also began to explore what AI could do. Using ChatGPT 4o, and the prompt (or variations of the prompt) "Write a factually accurate blog post describing briefly the life and the artistic style of the artist [artist name]", I discovered that AI could provide a decent summary of the artists I was interested in learning more about.
Caveats on the AI-generated Summaries
There are major caveats to this approach, however. These include:
Inaccuracies - sometimes the AI simply gets things wrong. An inaccurate date of birth. The profession of the father of the artist. A slightly inaccurate name of a painting or important institution in the life of the artist. This could be due to conflicting information on the internet or due to hallucinations.
Hallucinations - these appear to be more likely for artists with limited information available on the internet. The AI appears to want to "fill in the gaps" and will occasionally simply make things up. The artist is an illustrator? Well then, why not have them illustrate "Alice in Wonderland", even if they never did so in real life?
Jumbling - AI can sometimes get the sequence of events wrong and can also "jumble" relationships. For example, AI might state that an artist who was a major influence on a sibling was instead influenced by that sibling.
Omissions - anytime you are attempting to summarize an artist's life, you will need to omit things. Still, some of the omissions made by AI can be curious. Along the same lines, the artworks the AI selects to illustrate the artist's works can sometimes be puzzling.
These are not the only limitations and quirks of AI for the Artist Spotlights, but they are the main things I have noticed so far.
I check every Artist Spotlight entry for accuracy, and fix the mistakes I catch. I am not an art historian, and my resources do have limits, so I may miss some mistakes. Please consider this as you read the Artist Spotlights. Also, if you notice an error, please let me know!
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