For the last few years I’ve been wrestling with a question that I know many artists are asking:

If AI can create beautiful pictures in seconds, what is the point of being an artist?

I realised that what I was feeling wasn’t simply anxiety about technology. It was grief. The loss of a certainty about what it meant to be an artist.

In this video I begin to explore an idea that has been taking shape in my mind.

Perhaps we’ve misunderstood the role of the artist.

I imagine culture as a fertile valley that every generation inherits. We all draw from it – its books, music, paintings, films, discoveries and ideas. This is our common wealth: not money, but the shared richness of human experience.

As artists, writers and creators, our task is not simply to take from that valley but to tend it. To repair a broken gate. To cultivate neglected ground. To plant something new that future generations can enjoy.

AI may change how images are made, but it doesn’t change our responsibility to contribute.

Perhaps that has always been the real work of the artist.

I’d be interested to know whether this idea resonates with you. Please leave a comment below, or get in touch through the contact page.