While using AI in academic settings is widely understood to hinder or cut corners in the student-learning experience, the consequential use of AI Art is not as widely known or understood.

SANFORD, Maine – Recently at Sanford High School, students were urging for a call to action. During Teacher Appreciation Week, The Spartan Times participated in a well-known TikTok trend where the creators used AI Art in order to turn teachers into “toy” action-figures. Consider the trend’s popularity, it garnered a lot of attention – however, readers had mixed opinions on the ethics behind it. 

While using AI in academic settings is widely understood to hinder or cut corners in the student-learning experience, the consequential use of AI Art is not as widely known or understood. To the Spartan Times, we were participating in a fun and “harmless” social media trend. To the art world, particularly Sanford’s budding Art Community, the harm felt devastating.

One of the affected budding artists was senior and now recent-graduate, Elsie Gendron. She reached out to Spartan Times in hopes of educating us on the harmful effects of AI Art being used. Gendron wishes to use Spartan Times as a platform to spread awareness on these things, and the Spartan Times intends “to be part of the solution, not the problem.” 

Gendron explained in her email, “As someone going into a career in art, this is an issue that strikes close to home. I am entering into a lifelong battle with an exponentially increasing market of artificial intelligence… it’s the rampant erasure of artist jobs due to AI use.”

Gendron will be attending the Savannah College of Art and Design this fall and has won many accolades for her art during her time as a Spartan.

According to LMU Magazine, AI generators rely on databases of already existing art — which can affect the copyright and originality credits of existing artists, which challenges and complicates intellectual property and compensation.

“Many images used as the basis of replication are in the public domain, but artists charge that copyrighted images are used as well, raising questions about the uncompensated use of the intellectual property of others,” it detailed. 

Additionally, due to the seemingly “low cost” of AI art, companies are seeking online alternatives instead of hiring and supporting artists. “Artists who make their living by their work may go uncompensated for the use of their creations, or even find themselves priced out of some markets by less expensive AI-generated images,” according to LMU Magazine. Companies seeking fast and inexpensive results may not be considering the harm they are causing to the art world that AI seeks to pull from.

However, intellectual property and commissions aren’t the only reason folks are upset by AI Art use. Gendron attached a link in her email to the United Nations (UN) Environment Programme, which detailed the environmental impacts on AI on the world. It informs that AI requires a special kind of computer – one that is so powerful that it requires a plethora of raw minerals, some of which are so harmful that mining them can produce large amounts of electronic waste. 

“By 2026, the electricity consumption of data centers is expected to approach 1,050 terawatts (which would bump data centers up to fifth place on the global list, between Japan and Russia),” According to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology article by Adam Zewe. 

Moving forward, the Spartan Times has created a clause in their handbook not to use AI art regardless of any trends or suggestions from readers, in hopes of creating better habits moving forward. With this article, we hope that other students, teachers, and companies who use or have used AI Art think twice before falling into the trap again.