>This is patently, obviously _wrong_ for anyone who has tried learning any artistic skill in their life. Sorry to be this straightforward, but it gets on my ner

>This is patently, obviously _wrong_ for anyone who has tried learning any artistic skill in their life. Sorry to be this straightforward, but it gets on my nerves every time I read it. Both my parents (though retired now) were commercial artists. I was trying to be an artist at one point in my life before moving in Engineering and Science. All my parents friends are artists so I grew up around artists. Ask any artist here who is using illustrator, Photoshop, Krita etc. How often do they google image search for textures, or reference images that gets incorporated into their artwork? The final artwork is their own but it may incorporate many elements from others artwork. >If you tried learning, let's say, the chiaroscuro technique from Caravaggio.. You wouldn't even think of splitting the whole painting into puzzle size pieces while checking how many how those look similar when put close one another. Ever seen hyperealistic pointillism? Who are you to be the arbitrator of how an artists creates their work? Have you ever gone to a modern art gallery and seen all the different methods people use to create artwork? Art is boundless and unique to each who creates it. If a Artist uses a tool to create art, everyone agrees that is art. It could be a paint brush, clay, software on a computer etc etc. If an artist uses AI as a tool to create art then suddenly it's not art.