By Zhina Ali

In this new era, the minimal effort required to generate detailed visuals with a typed prompt in seconds raises deep concerns among artists. They no longer face the question of how to create but how to survive.

As artificial intelligence continues to take over the creative industries, one sentiment is louder among traditional artists: AI may be powerful, efficient, and fast, but it isn't human.

Tuba Mir, an experienced artist and photography student at the City of Glasgow College, voices her concerns about emotionless art.

Mir said: “Art is a form of self-expression. It’s a human experience. It cannot be recreated with a tool.”

The rise of AI-generated art has raised fierce debate. For some, AI is viewed as revolutionary, while others find it unethical and threatens centuries of human expression.

Mir said: “I'm highly against AI creating art.

“Art is a form of self-expression. It's a form of creativity. People have been doing it for years with no issue, and I don't see why we need a computer to create art.”

The issue isn't just technology, it's the value system behind it. Companies such as Disney are no longer prioritising creativity in storytelling, but cost-cutting and speed.

This affects future young artists as machines take over more jobs. Some are forced to change their career paths due to companies not hiring real artists anymore.

Mir: “It’s not art to type something in for it to create something. I picked photography over art because art has been completely overconsumed by AI and CGI.

“I would love to do this as a job. I would love to create, but many animators have been released not because CGI looks better, but because it was faster and cheaper. That’s all. There is no heart in it anymore.”

Many artists feel like their skills are no longer enough. AI tools are trained on billions of images; many are scraped from artists without consent and recreate entire styles. Instagram floods its feed with many AI art, and it can be hard to distinguish between what is machinery and what is human-made work.

Mir: “It’s unethical. AI is stealing from real artists. People don’t even know what’s real anymore.

“Art is supposed to be emotional. It's supposed to be political. It’s supposed to make you feel something. AI is completely emotionless.”

The artist emphasised that art has historically been a powerful form of resistance, healing and storytelling. From Picasso’s Guernica to modern protest murals, creative expression has long given voice to the voiceless.

Mir said: “Most people don't know how to work with their brains anymore. It’s another form of the government making people feel weaker, making people feel less, making people stop expressing themselves.”

Now that AI is flooding creative industries, there’s a concern and fear that younger generations may not try to be creative.

Mir said: “People are too lazy now. They don’t want to learn a skill. AI makes them think there’s no point.

“AI is more accessible, but art isn't meant to be easy, it's meant to be valuable to us. I don't understand why people want an easy way out.”

Despite the negative outlook, the artist doesn’t advocate giving up. Instead, she urges many creative minds to carve their paths: “Keep strong. Build your platforms. The big companies have lost their way. But there’s still value in unique personal creation.”

The struggle isn’t just in the professional field; it’s existential. AI is changing how art is made and what art means. If we lose the human touch, what’s left?

Mir said: “It’s just another form of capitalism. A way to make people stop thinking, stop creating, and stop expressing themselves. But art was never supposed to be easy. It’s supposed to be powerful.”

AI vs Artists: Is AI Killing the Soul of Real Art?