Training AI in Art

Artist Comments

This is my emotional response to the theft of millions of art images which were used to train Gen AI systems.

The painting depicts four artists: John Singer Sargent, Leonardo da Vinci and Rembrandt in agony, having their life-blood, skills and knowledge drained from them by a quantum computer as it trains for generative AI, while Caravaggio awaits the same fate in prison. Rembrandt has already succumbed to the torture and lies dead on the table. The scene is composed using a number of artistic references from the victims - the foreground table setting is from Caravaggio's 'Supper at Emmaus' whilst the background is inspired by da Vinci's 'Madonna of the Rocks' and the staircase is based loosely on 'Balustrade in Rome' by John Singer Sargent.

The original objects on the table, baskets of fruit, bread, water have been replaced by the artist's tools of linseed oil, brushes and a palette with paint on it. The palette hangs over the edge of the table just as the basket of fruit does in the original painting. Caravaggio is depicted in the prison as, during his lifetime, he was sent to prison for murder.

It is a protest piece, hoping to draw attention to the injustice suffered by many artists from the unjust and unethical practice of Gen AI systems today.