Rant: My aunt just compared AI art to using a calculator in math class

She was trying to defend AI generators while we were looking at her old watercolor paintings from the 90s. I reminded her that calculators don't create something out of nothing, they just do the math faster. She got quiet for a second then said 'well it's still a tool.' I'm still not sure how I feel about that comparison. Has anyone else gotten stuck in these family debates where nobody actually changes their mind?

3 comments

3 Comments

tyler61mo ago

The calculator thing kinda falls apart when you think about it though. Like if I use a calculator to double check my tip math at dinner, that's not the same as typing 'pretty landscape in the style of a famous painter' and calling it my work. My brain barely works half the time and even I can see the difference.

the_joseph1mo ago

But isn't a calculator just doing the heavy lifting of the math so you don't have to, same as AI doing the heavy lifting of making an image? The brain work is still in choosing which numbers to punch in or which prompt to type. I've been watching my nephew use those AI art generators, and he spends more time tweaking the words and trying different combinations than he would just drawing something himself. It's still a tool that handles the technical part so you can focus on the idea.

ross.felix1mo ago

I saw a study that said people using AI art tools spend about 70% of their time just tweaking prompts and regenerating stuff until it looks right. That's not really focusing on the idea, that's trying to trick a machine into guessing what you want. A calculator gives you the exact answer to a problem you already solved in your head, but AI art is more like trying to describe a dream to someone who keeps drawing the wrong thing.