The Button Isn’t the Artist
An AI can produce a beautiful picture in thirty seconds. It can also cost a working illustrator their next commission. Both things can be true.
Generative AI has sparked a bitter argument about creativity, copyright, consent, and the survival of professional artists. But somewhere along the way, we've confused the ethics of building and selling these tools with the artistic legitimacy of using them.
Through examples from illustration, photography, music, and graphic design, The Button Isn't the Artist examines what AI changes about creative work—and what it doesn't. It confronts the realities of displaced labor, questionable training practices, copyright, and an internet drowning in disposable content without dismissing the genuine creative opportunities these tools provide.
The machine can make the picture. But making something meaningful still requires a person with an idea, judgment, and something worth saying.
The button isn't the artist. And it isn't necessarily the artist's enemy.
