Artists Are The New Authors

Until 2022, one could reasonably expect to make a living as an artist.

Magazines, websites, advertisers, book publishers, they all have a constant need for new art. Not fancy high-art. They need practical art, mostly illustrations. Since they are using this art to create a product that makes a profit, they can pay from those profits. It’s not a luxury lifestyle, but it’s skilled work in a creative trade that actually pays the bills. You could make a decent living for your entire lifetime.

Then DALL-E, MidJourney, Stable Diffusion, etc happened.

It is true that AI will never replace an artist with a name. A well-known artist of high clout is in no danger, because s/he has a bespoke brand. Their name is the most important part of what they produce, not the art piece itself.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of working artists are producing art that has to be good enough, but doesn’t need to be created by them specifically. When AI can make art that’s good enough for 1/50th the price, all those artists would have to work for under $1/hour to compete.

The written fiction world has existed in this dynamic for longer than I’ve been alive. It’s pretty well known that aside from the top few % of authors, everyone either has a day job to pay the bills, or a well-off spouse or parents that support them. Writing fiction is not something a serious person can do to support a serious lifestyle. (Possible exception - romance novels)

In some very few cases someone will break big, and become one of the .1% that makes decent money. This generally takes a lot of skill, a lot of perseverance, not insignificant social connections, and always requires a ton of luck.

Artists of sufficient skill used to be able to simply focus on their craft and produce a product the market wanted. Now they will also have to work a day job, or be supported by someone else, while doing art because it’s a passion. Kinda sucks, but it’ll happen to every industry eventually. Sorry guys. :(