The artwork above was created using “Mohrbacher” as a keyword in the AI Image prompt in Midjourney AI
What do professional artists think of AI art? Peter Mohrbacher, the word-renowned artist, shared his thoughts about AI Artwork and the platform Midjourney. Below are highlights of Peter’s thoughts from this discussion. Much thanks to David H and Midjourney for facilitating the discussion.
Is AI Artwork a Threat to Artists?
“You can make detailed cyberpunk art in seconds. Does that mean you will be able to monetize when everyone can do the same thing equally? This highlights the many jobs required to become a prominent artist beyond just making a JPG. AI tools just make the barrier for entry lower. The job of an artist is complicated: creating a vision and direction, curating a portfolio, and building a brand of art. Those challenges remain. I’m looking forward to seeing people become prominent AI artists. Their visions can create demand for their work and allow them to rise even if it is directly from the AI (with minimal changes or none). It’s possible.”
“People crave something beyond just an amalgam of aesthetic styles: there must be some narrative. What was the thought behind the art? So many art purchases I see of my art are from people expressing their identity. People want to figure out what aesthetic they are. If they aren’t an artist, they find an artist that represents their aesthetic—following and purchasing them. Creators are still in the driver’s seat. The story behind the art is important, not just the technical skill.”
Combining the art styles of Fenghua Zhong, Beksinsky and Peter Mohrbacher in Midjourney AI
How does Peter Mohrbacher use AI in his artwork?
“When I started using Midjourney, I saw these big elaborate pieces of art and thought to myself: I could paint on top of it. And then I realized I couldn’t build a brand on this. It felt like an unmasterful use of the tool. So I shifted to think of Midjourney as an idea generation and compositional generation tool. I’m known for character art because I’m bad at creating scenes with multiple characters in an environment. Originally I was going to hire a number of artists to work with me. I can now start with the structure from Midjourney outputs and build on top of those environments, bringing the things I’m good at and using Midjourney for the things I’m bad at.”
Fitting AI Into Artistic Process
“My initial feeling when I started working with AI is that it sorta feels like you have an exo-suit. You can move through the world quicker and more powerfully through the same creative space. You have these robot legs. Yet, your intention and direction are largely unaffected. It’s a very cooperative feeling.”
“Everyone I’ve talked to is inserting AI into different phases in their process. I’m still playing with where it fits, for example, to help polish finished paintings or set ideas for new paintings. I have all this texture and material I can use to photo bash into something. It’s easy to create a huge library of stuff when you’re using it daily. You then have a lot of material to draw from.”
AI’s Impact on the Satisfaction of Creating Artwork
“I’m only interested in using Midjourney in a very intentional way. The more I use it, the more I feel the need to have command of it. If I’m polishing something coming right out of the AI, I realize that I’m not in it for this. I didn’t work hard to become an artist to gain “follows” and “likes” on social media; I did it because I love to make things. So long as the tool is in service of making things, it’s great. Largely, I see artists using Midjourney out of a desire to use it as a tool for making artwork as a part of the artistic process — because making artwork is why we do this.”
AI Artwork is Expanding Accessibility to Non-Artists
“I was talking to someone, and they said, ‘I was finally able to make all the cyberpunk artwork for myself that I wanted.’ It was just for themselves. The reasons why people are likely to make images it’s one of those unknowns we haven’t gotten a handle on yet. The reasons people want to make imagery is an interesting fundamental question. AI [collaboration] may give us some answers as to why people make artwork. As someone who absolutely loves the image-making process, I welcome them in. The water is fine. I always advocate for people to make art. For me, it was always therapeutic. If it lowers the barrier for people who felt intimidated, I think it’s awesome that more people will be able to experiment and hash things out in their heads.”
On the Topic of Artists “Steeling” Art Styles Using AI
“Should I be afraid of someone who wants to make art that looks exactly like mine? There is a lot more an artist does than just make art. I have a feeling that those people would get bored before getting as far as I’ve gotten. As an artist, it’s a kink, you have this obsession with doing the same thing over and over again, and you get positive feedback from that thing. Of course, it changes across your career, but someone making similar images repeatedly for years and years says more about what motivates that individual than what their goals are. So if anyone can make a Pete Mohrbacher machine, they’re likely to get bored and want to try something else. I’m probably the only person who wants to do this type of imagery with this repetition.”
“Many paintings of mine are adapted based on ten paintings by other people. If I had a machine that perfectly mimics me, I wouldn’t finish many paintings that way, but I’d try to get it 50% me and 25% two other artists because that has been the process (pre-AI). Even if you could perfectly mimic styles, people will naturally end up mixing five different artists to create something new. 15 years ago, people were talking about “style stealing.” It’s the same boring discussion again. I’m geared to be the opposite of an alarmist, so don’t use me as a case study. I really want to see it. If Midjourney can perfectly mimic my style, I’d like to see it. Everything is going to change anyway. I’m curious to see how the current crop of tools affects the landscape.”
How will AI Artwork Impact the Broader Marketplace?
“When you look at this across the marketplace, it’s too complicated to make anything but educated guesses. Everyone knows something is going to happen. But no one knows what. Things will change.”
What do you think? If you had questions for Peter, what would you ask?
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