We asked artists how they felt about AI-generated art – and they had a lot of feelings

MANILA, Philippines – It seems that AI-generated art is the latest tech boogeyman spooking people these days, and for good reason. When an artificial intelligence program can create, within minutes, an aesthetically pleasing digital painting based on a few simple text prompts, it will certainly lead to questions about the "genuineness" or "legitimacy" of a work of art, and about the fate of living, breathing human beings whose livelihoods depend on artistic skills. Case in point, an AI-generated image recently bested man-made entries at the Colorado State Fair, and it caused an uproar among many artists who felt that the win was unfair. Jason Allen, the flesh-and-bone entity who submitted the work, defended himself by saying he was completely transparent about using AI program Midjourney for the piece. So was this cheating, or was this simply using a newfangled tool? This question – and a ton of other questions – have been on the Rappler team's minds lately, so we decided to ask Filipinos from the art world and creative industries for their feelings about AI-generated art, and here's what they had to say: For creative director Emil Mercado, it is the efficiency of artificial intelligence that might cause the most harm, as it could very well exploit an already toxic industry.