Navigating Ai Art in Art Education
I’m torn and feel unsure about the whole Ai image-creation thing. I can see that there are two sides to this story. On the one hand, it feels like cheating, like theft and devoid of skill. On the other, I’m mindful of previous advances that frightened the artworld like the printing press, photography and digital art. People thought photography would be the end of art and the printing press the end of hand writing.
I know that creating art with Ai is here to stay but should art educators integrate it into their curriculums or does it take away from the learning process?
Of course, educators should use Ai for admin and planning tasks – anything to reduce the workload.
What the Exam Boards Say
JCQ which is the body that sits above the exam boards here in the UK, has produced a document called ‘AI Use in Assessments: Protecting the Integrity of Qualifications’ and it states what we already know but perhaps need reminding of: “teachers and assessors must only accept work for qualification assessments which is the students’ own”.
Ai generated art is not student work. Artificial intelligence programs have learned from looking at thousands, if not millions of artworks. AI art is like teaching a robot how art works, and then asking it to make something new based on what it has “learned.” Our students should be doing this for themselves.
But, JCQ is not saying they can’t use it. They go on to state:
“If any sections of their work are reproduced directly from AI generated responses, those elements must be identified by the student and they must understand that this will not allow them to demonstrate that they have independently met the marking criteria and therefore will not be rewarded.”
Not identifying them would be malpractice which could lead to disqualification.
However, my feeling is, if a student uses Ai to make progress with their work but that work has to be discounted, it’s likely that an assessment objective is not going to be fully met as part of the process is missing.
It is my view that clearly stating to your students that AI art is not permitted for exam classes (e.g. GCSEs and A Level) is the simplest way forward.
What about Younger Students?
All students in your school are growing up with AI art generators and programs, and it’s possible that they will not remember a time without it. You need to decide if you are going to let students who are not yet being assessed to use it as part of the curriculum you devise.
Limited Time is a Factor
To fulfil the art & design curriculum at Key Stage 3, we already have a huge amount of things that have to be included in what has been a diminishing amount of time. Drawing, painting, printing and sculpture must be included as does the analysis of art and learning about artists, art history, craft, design and architecture. Creatively exploring different materials and techniques takes time if it is to be done well.
It’s a question of priorities and at the moment I would prefer students to spend their time learning how to develop their own ideas. I want them to learn skills so they have the language to express their own creative ideas.
I Reserve the Right to Change My Mind
It’s hard to imagine what might be happening in art classrooms around the world in 50 years time.
In the end, AI is just another chapter in the ongoing story of art and innovation. It’s a reminder that art has never been static; it has always evolved with the times. The camera didn’t kill portrait painting and the printing press didn’t kill handwriting. Who knows what Ai art generation will look like in the future.
Popular Art Lessons
If you’ve enjoyed ‘Navigating AI Art in Art Education’ why not register to hear about future articles in my weekly newsletter? Registering will also allow you to download 3 of my free resources every month too. Just click on the image below.
PS I didn’t put my website in the post. But in case Barry is interested it’s http://www.danchina.co.uk
Hi Dan,
I’ve just been having a look at some of your articles – very interesting. I agree that teachers can use Ai, both text/information and image generators, to do some tasks that would have, historically, taken a long time. Anything that saves teachers time is a bonus. I use Ai increasingly for researching things for this site and image generation. What worries me is art teachers allowing students to use it to develop their ideas when I think the students should be doing this themselves. They need practice developing ideas so they know how to do it as their art career progresses up through the school and beyond.
This was really interesting. I’ve been exploring the potential and problems of AI for art teachers for about 18 months now. But haven’t found many teachers prepared to share ideas, so this is great.
Your JCQ research is correct but it is generic and nowhere is there any art and design specific advice. But if you look at the JCQ paper about coursework you will find in the ‘appendix for students’ an explicit reference to the use of AI for “research”.
I’ve begun to model that, but awarding bodies are saying nothing at all so it’s rather difficult to predict and I tend to agree caution is sensible as the penalties for students and teachers are serious.
I’ve been developing AI content for NSEAD with a view to adding it into their ‘Big Landscape’. As part of this process I’ve just (this morning) uploaded a rough cut onto my personal website just to see how it feels and to test the navigation. Any comments would be welcome.
Best wishes
Dan
Hi Dan, It’s frustrating when Art & Design NEA coursework is lumped in with other sorts of, often written, NEA. I’m sure many art teachers would appreciate more subject-specific advice.
I’m struggling to find the appendix to which you refer. I’ve looked in an appendix for candidates on a JCQ coursework document and it states “Don’t be tempted to use pre-prepared online solutions – this is cheating. Electronic tools used by awarding bodies can detect this sort of copying.” It makes no reference to Ai, so you must be looking at something else. I’d like to know what it is! I look forward to anything you publish. I’m a member of NSEAD; lets hope our paths cross as some point! Sarah
I think the view expressed on AI is very narrow and that as art teachers we should be the first to embrace it. Ai allows us to create what we can imagine without the constraints of ability, time and materials. Non artists/art teachers will recognise this, take AI and will undermine the achievements of our art students by creating work that on the face of it look far superior to our students. I believe that AI should be embraced especially at the generation stage of ideas (Brain storming, Mind mapping etc) this will allow the students to get to the meat of their projects quicker and with more quality solutions.
An interesting viewpoint. Should we let Ai come up with the ideas for students, or should we make students come up with their own ideas?* I have used Ai alot and would ask the question: Does Ai come up with what we imagine?
*Certainly for GCSE and A level we have no choice but to make students come up with their own ideas.