Keith Haring would not approve

Artist Keith Haring with his Unfinished Painting

 

Compare the two artworks below.


You might recognise the artist as Keith Haring.

On the left is his Unfinished Painting, created in 1989. The original artwork occupies only the top-left corner, leaving the rest blank, symbolising the loss caused by the HIV epidemic.

An X user used AI to ‘finish’ the artwork, because they were ‘sad’ it was unfinished.

Their version is on the right.

Our 2 cents?

Any decent designer or artist could have ‘finished’ that painting in the 35 years since 1989. And done a much better job, too. Compare the top-left with the bottom-right and you’ll see what we mean.

But, we didn’t.

Why not?

Because we respect the idea behind WHY it’s unfinished.

If AI makes a task quicker, that doesn’t mean it’s A. better or B. should be done at all…

When it comes to AI, just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

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