Why the AI art controversy is just the latest chapter in humanity's oldest creative story.
The year was 1839. Paul Delaroche, one of France's most celebrated painters, reportedly declared upon seeing his first photograph: "From today, painting is dead!"
Sound familiar?
Fast-forward to 2025, and we're hearing eerily similar proclamations about artificial intelligence. "AI will replace artists!" "This is the death of creativity!" The medium has changed, but the melody remains the same—a predictable symphony of fear, resistance, and eventual adaptation that has played out countless times throughout history.
The Five Stages of Technological Grief
Human beings are remarkably consistent in how we process disruptive technology. Whether we're talking about photography, synthesizers, or AI image generators, the pattern unfolds with mathematical precision:
Stage 1: Dismissal and Mockery
"It's just a gimmick."
Every revolutionary technology begins as a curiosity—clunky, limited, and easy to dismiss. Early photographs were blurry. First synthesizers sounded tinny. Early AI art was a carnival of distorted faces.
Artists looked and laughed. The technology couldn't compete with centuries of refined human skill. Why worry about something so obviously inferior?
Stage 2: Creeping Fear
"Wait... this is getting good."
But technology doesn't stand still. Those blurry photographs became sharp portraits. Synthesizers began producing impossible sounds. And AI art started winning contests.
This is when the laughter stops. When DALL-E 2 fooled viewers. When Midjourney generated professional-quality concept art. When an AI piece won the Colorado State Fair.
Suddenly, dismissal transforms into something more primal: fear.
Stage 3: Backlash and Attack
"This threatens everything we hold sacred."
Fear breeds resistance. Artists organized against AI. Lawsuits emerged. Social media erupted with #NoAI movements.
The arguments are always similar: it lacks soul, it's stealing from "real" artists, it will destroy livelihoods. These aren't just practical concerns—they're existential ones. When your identity is built around being irreplaceably human, machines that mimic human creativity feel like an attack on your essence.
Stage 4: Reluctant Experimentation
"Maybe I can use this to my advantage."
Eventually, curiosity wins over fear. Some artists begin experimenting. They discover AI isn't just a replacement tool but a collaborator—generating ideas, creating variations, handling tedious tasks.
This stage is messy and controversial. Early adopters face criticism from purists. Artists struggle to define new roles for themselves.
Stage 5: Integration and Evolution
"This is just how we make art now."
Finally, the technology becomes invisible—just another tool in the creative toolkit. Photography didn't kill painting; it freed painters from merely documenting reality, leading to Impressionism and abstract art. Synthesizers didn't destroy music; they created entirely new genres.
The artists who thrive are those who use new technology to amplify their uniquely human vision—not replace it.
Historical Echoes
This pattern repeats throughout creative history:
Photography (1800s): Portrait painters predicted doom. Instead, painting evolved beyond representation into modern art movements.
Synthesizers (1960s-70s): Traditional musicians dismissed electronic instruments as "fake." Instead, synthesizers gave birth to electronic music and countless hybrid genres.
Digital Art (1980s-90s): Traditional artists resisted digital tools as "cheating." Instead, digital art became its own legitimate medium.
Computer Graphics in Film (1990s-2000s): Practical effects artists feared CGI would eliminate their craft. Instead, the best films now seamlessly blend both approaches.
In every case, the threatening technology ultimately expanded the definition of what art could be.
Where We Are Now
We're somewhere between stages 3 and 4 with AI art—backlash is strong, but experimentation is accelerating.
Some artists already embrace AI as a creative partner. Concept artists use AI to rapidly iterate ideas. Illustrators employ AI for backgrounds while focusing human touch on characters and emotions. Others blend AI-generated elements with traditional techniques.
But history suggests neither pure resistance nor wholesale replacement are likely outcomes. More probable is the messy, creative middle ground where human artists and AI tools evolve together.
What’s different this time is speed. For the first time, we’re witnessing this adoption cycle unfold in real-time—globally, and at internet speed. Previous shifts took decades; AI art is evolving in mere months.
This rapid change is challenging—artists have less time to adapt, and the disruption feels more intense. But it also opens new doors: never before have powerful creative tools been so accessible, nor the barrier to entry so low. It’s never been easier to experiment, iterate, and explore.
Where Whaleden Stands: A Platform for All Creative Voices
At Whaleden, we're building infrastructure for the entire spectrum of artistic expression emerging from this technological shift.
Our platform welcomes traditional artists working exclusively with physical media. We celebrate digital artists pushing human-machine collaboration boundaries. We support AI art pioneers exploring new creative forms. And we embrace hybrid artists inventing approaches we haven't even named yet.
This isn't fence-sitting—it's strategic positioning. History shows technological adoption cycles resolve through an explosion of creative diversity, not the victory of one approach over another. The most successful platforms provide space for this entire spectrum to flourish.
We believe the future belongs to creators who navigate fluidly between traditional and AI-assisted approaches. Our mission is to provide infrastructure, community, and marketplace that enables this creative fluidity.
Crucially, Whaleden is designed for rapid iteration and experimentation—something traditional art platforms have neglected. While legacy systems were built for slow, curated releases, we recognize that AI-era creativity demands speed, flexibility, and constant evolution. Our platform architecture enables rapid creative cycling, whether you're iterating on AI prompts, testing hybrid techniques, or exploring entirely new forms.
Whether you're a painter who's never touched a computer, a prompt engineer pushing AI limits, or an artist inventing hybrid techniques—Whaleden is your platform. We're not betting on any single creative approach; we're betting on creativity itself.
Looking Forward
The future won't be human artists versus AI—it will be human artists with AI, creating things neither could achieve alone. We'll see new art forms emerge that are fundamentally collaborative between human creativity and machine capability.
Some artists will specialize in prompt engineering. Others will use AI as a starting point for human refinement. Still others will position their work explicitly in opposition to AI, emphasizing irreplaceably human elements.
All approaches have value. All represent legitimate artistic choices.
Throughout this cycle—from dismissal to integration—one thing remains constant: the human need to create, to express, to make meaning through visual form. Technology changes the tools, but it doesn't eliminate that fundamental drive.
The panic is predictable. The adaptation is inevitable. And the art that emerges from this creative chaos will be uniquely, recognizably, beautifully human—even when the tools aren't.
The future of art isn't about choosing between human and machine—it's about discovering what becomes possible when they work together.
Are you an artist and want to create new stories with us?
Write to us at judy@whaleden.com – we’d love to meet you.
Let’s show the world what the future of art can look like.
