I was featured in an interview segment on CTV Calgary about the disappointment in the Calgary Public Library putting out a call for an AI Artist collaboration. Thank you Tyler from CTV for speaking with me.

The goal of AI in the artistic space is not to create "artists" and "art" – it seeks to create more "users" and revenue; at the expense of data privacy, artistic ethics, and the environment.

Considering the role of the Calgary Public Library as a public institution and community meeting space of people from all walks of life, the post from the CPL for an "AI artist" is incredibly demoralizing – especially to younger artists and those who work in vulnerable marginalized spaces (BIPOC, queer/2LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent, disability) and are generally afforded less opportunity.

Generative AI has been moving at almost the speed of light, but the unethical and environmentally-devastating reality of AI is well-documented. Knowing what we know about AI, it's very tone deaf to make this call for an "AI artist" (a term I am very much not in agreement with) when there is such a vast wealth of artistic talent in this city that is rarely given such an opportunity. With AI now effectively working to remove the artist from art while plagiarizing existing other artists' work, those opportunities are even more rare and important.