In a world where artificial intelligence (AI) has become prevalent in editing essays, planning shopping lists, and giving advice on physical looks, perhaps it’s no surprise when generative AI creates art undistinguishable from a human’s work. But how can Christians in particular look at this phenomenon from a biblical perspective?
The Washington Stand’s Outstanding podcast recently interviewed artists Jeff Dionise and Hannah Tu about how Christians should think about art in conjunction with their faith, particularly in the age of generative AI.
Dionise is a designer and illustrator, the former vice president of USA Today’s product development and design, and a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner for visual storytelling. Tu, a multidisciplinary graphic designer, is Family Research Council’s art director and a freelance designer and illustrator.
With the growing prevalence of generative AI in art and academia, Dionise and Tu answered how they view AI artwork from a Christian perspective. Both agreed that although generative AI is often more accessible and faster than human-designed art, people still bring an aspect of creativity that AI does not have.
“The concept and the idea you have is where the gold is,” Dionise said. “Can you read this complex story and come out with just the right idea for an illustration that would really help the user? So, that’s an area that’s a little less automatic when it comes to AI.”
OpenAI launched its newest update to GPT-4o back in March. It included an image-generator trained in multiple animation and artwork styles. The release of the update prompted a flood of animations in the Studio Ghibli style, a popular anime form known for its hand-drawn visuals. Using this style, the public began animating their own personal pictures and memes. The founder and CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, even updated his Meta profile to a Studio Ghibli-fied version of himself.
Artists and anime fans pushed back, expressing concerns over copyright and job loss. After all, Studio Ghibli rose to popularity largely due to the talent of its founder, Hayao Miyazaki, who hand-drew his own animations.
Once she saw social media flooded with Studio Ghibli photographs and memes, artist Karla Ortiz told AP News that “companies like OpenAI just do not care about the work of artists and the livelihoods of artists.” Prior to OpenAI’s update, Ortiz had already been suing several other AI companies for copyright infringement on her and other artists’ work.
But apart from issues of copyright infringement, should Christians even consider using AI in artwork?
“I think that we can use [AI] well and efficiently,” Tu said. “I don’t think it will ever replace the need for human artists. There’s something about interpreting an email, for example, and, like, working with people to find the right solution that AI can’t do at this point.”
Creating art as a Christian, Dionise pointed out, you must be careful with both the final product as well as the process you use to get there.
“Art is communication as much as words are communication,” Dionise said. “So, the question is, what are we really saying? What are we communicating with? What are we designing and illustrating? Ultimately, that’s the question. And that’s where we, I think, have to be cautious that we don’t use our art to say things that we ourselves don’t believe.”
“I think the types of messages you convey with art [are] very important for a Christian,” Tu said. “Is [our art] an accurate reflection of a Christian worldview, that as Christian artists, we should be mindful of and also use appropriate styles for appropriate means of communication?”
AI also cannot participate in the community of artists that both Dionise and Tu mentioned as one of the primary means by which they improve their artistic talents.
“I found it helpful to put myself in the company of people I feel are very much above me in terms of talent and ability and skill and experience,” Dionise said. “There have been specific situations where I know I’ve been pitted against another artist by an art director in a friendly kind of professional way. … He’d say, ‘Did you see what so-and-so did? Wow, that’s really impressive.’ And I think, ‘Interesting.’ And my next thing would try to leapfrog that. Then he would try to leapfrog me. And we had a blast trying to do it.”
“God’s gifted other people with creative talents, too. And, I mean, even you can look outside of the artistic community. Writers, music, a lot of elements from different types of jobs and skill sets can also be applied to creative design,” Tu said. “[T]he skill sets that God’s gifted [us] can also just bleed into art and inspire you to look at things in a new way.”
At the end of the day, both artists concluded that human beings, especially Christians, have a unique perspective that AI does not. As image bearers, artists reflect God through their art.
“[T]here is an aspect of this kind of something out of nothing … that I think does at least point to how God created the world,” Dionise said. “[I]f you’re a child of God, you look around and you see creation in a way that is different than the world sees it.”
Tu emphasized that this unique Christian perspective bleeds into other fields beyond just art and design.
“[E]veryone in one aspect is a creator. Whether you’re just working as … a fast-food worker, you’re still creating something and bringing order to chaos. So, there is a creative element … in every job.”
Evelyn Elliott serves as an intern at Family Research Council.
