The Art World Has an AI Problem
A diatribe against AI-generated art writing, MIT professors bedazzle security cameras, and Art Basel Paris goes into lockdown.
It’s not just a problem. It’s a travesty. AI in art writing, I mean — and if those words made you instinctively cringe, then you get it, because that “It’s not X, it’s Y” sentence construction is just one of the many hallmarks of artificially generated writing. Speaking as an editor, come on. We can tell. And we will judge, and let you know exactly how we feel about it. We might even write a diatribe against it, as Senior Editor Valentina Di Liscia does today in a piece that is incisive, understanding, and original — a chatbot could never.
An opinion piece is one way to rail against the corporate-technological surveillance complex. Bedazzling security cameras is another, perhaps less orthodox, method. That’s right: Tenured professors at MIT are gluing googly eyes and rhinestones onto the university’s cameras, Staff Writer Anna Lee reports today, to protest its investment in Big Brother.
Sigh. To paraphrase Allen Ginsberg, I saw the best minds of my generation gluing craft materials onto surveillance apparatuses, and regurgitated as AI garbage.
—Lisa Yin Zhang, associate editor
Dear Art World, We Can Tell When You’re Using AI
Wall labels. Press releases. Artist statements. In today’s fast-paced art world, the written word stands at a crucial crossroads — and the stakes have never been higher. But here’s the thing: It’s not just about convenience. It’s about authenticity. Because the way we express ourselves matters.
The above paragraph was generated by Claude when prompted to write an introduction for an opinion piece against AI use in art writing, and if it made you recoil in your seat, you may be among those of us who have developed a strong aversion to generative text. You’ll know it when you see it: that uncanny cadence that’s overconfident in style yet hollow in substance, like a motivational LinkedIn post that feels relatable at first but leaves you with as much nourishment as a spoonful of Stevia. | Valentina Di Liscia
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Applications Open for the MFA in Studio Art at Maine College of Art & Design
Apply by January 17, 2027 to be considered for a full-tuition scholarship.
News
- Tenured faculty members at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are decorating the university’s surveillance cameras to protest its investment in what they call “Big Brother technology.”
- The Grand Palais in Paris undergoes temporary lockdown during installation for Art Basel Paris, amid nearby protests over France’s education system and public services.
- As negotiations continue at the Victoria & Albert Museum, unionized staff are set to strike across all four London sites due to continued disputes regarding pay and working conditions.
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