Specialist global insurer, Hiscox, has unveiled the first ‘self-portrait’ of an AI artist in collaboration with 40 established artists. It has been created to highlight the ethical dilemmas surrounding AI-generated art – particularly compensation for artists – and draws on the findings of the inaugural Hiscox Art and AI Report.

As AI image generators develop the ability to create new works by assimilating the artistic identities of human artists from different eras, it is possible for one piece to be an amalgam of works from Picasso or Van Gogh to Hockney and Kusama.

However, this is often done without providing compensation to the artists or obtaining their consent – and the art world thinks it’s time for change. In fact, 77% of art collectors and 78% of art enthusiasts said artists should be fairly compensated for their work being used by AI models.

To shine a light on this issue, Hiscox collaborated with 40 established artists*, each of which contributed their own headshot photograph towards the finished piece, which was created by blending all 40 headshots into a single human face via coding**. All artists who contributed to the piece were compensated for their participation.

The traditional ‘e-fit’ image was then transformed into a stylised self-portrait painting and the finished work symbolises how an AI artwork is, at its core, a composite of human endeavour and creativity.

With over a third (37%) of art collectors concerned about artists’ works being used without permission, Hiscox worked with a designer to create a stylised portrait of the merged artists’ faces. Many AI platforms don’t compensate the artists whose work they use to train their models. However, some platforms like Tess are trying to change this. Tess is an ethical AI image generator and the first of its kind to pay artists royalties when their styles are used. This ensures that artists are paid fairly, and platform subscribers can generate images without fear of copyright infringement.

Robert Read, Head of Art and Private Client at Hiscox, commented: “The use of AI in art is a new frontier for the art market, and that brings both risk and opportunity. Using advanced technologies can be a fantastic creative enabler, but our research shows there are still issues that the industry is grappling with – particularly when it comes to transparency and compensation.

“There’s nothing inherently wrong with an AI learning to make art by studying and absorbing human art – so long as it is done ethically, transparently and fairly.”

The Hiscox Art and AI Report found that 42% of art collectors and enthusiasts had ethical concerns with AI art, while more than a third (37%) of art collectors were concerned about copyright infringement.

Compensation was a critical concern and it’s an issue that’s impacting art sales. Interestingly, two-thirds (66%) of art enthusiasts and nearly a third (32%) of art collectors said they would be more inclined to buy AI-generated art if they knew that artists were compensated, thus demonstrating the importance of ethical platforms such as Tess and the substantial positive impact that ethical platforms could have on the AI-generated art industry.

The report also found that there’s a strong desire among art collectors (82%) and enthusiasts (76%) for clear labelling to differentiate between AI-generated art and man-made content.

Robert concluded: “The extent to which AI-generated art imitates or even replicates existing man-made artworks, and the transparency of AI use when generating artworks, are some of the big concerns that will shape the future of not only AI-generated art but also the wider market in general.”