I think artists have this one trait, that is unique in the human population. Everybody acknowledges it. It's not any kind of secret.
See, if you're actually an artist, insulting you or your art, is just going to make you go harder and do more of it. Insult is motivation.
If your actual desire were for someone to stop making art, the best and really only thing you can do is watch from a distance, and hope they get bored.
Tell an artist fuck themselves, and if the person you're talking to IS actually an artist, they'll go on an obsessive "no fuck you" tangent that inevitably results in more and better art.
There is nothing you can say to someone who loves art, and their craft, legitimately, that will ever stop them from doing it. It's a bodily function, something an actual artist (at least the born kind) has to do. Like sleeping or taking a shit.
Imagine asking someone not to piss, ever.
It's basically the same request.
Art is not a product. It's the natural result of your biology and brain chemistry.
In a way, the anti-ai art "criticism" is a litmus test or hazing process to see what this new class of artist is made of. And I really do think that's intentional. I think it's bad behavior, but it's intentional behavior.
Because someone, or a group of someones with power in the art world is curious, and wants to know.
There are actually people in the "art community" who are dead honest about this. They describe it as "separating the wheat from the chaff."
The backlash and Dadaist disgust
But the problem this time, is how hard they did it. The backlash against AI tooled artists is a lot more personal and visceral than previous "cullings."
You see, they forgot their art history.
In the 20th century, they knew where the limits were, and how to prevent counter-movements.
But they forgot that going too hard inevitably, sparks Dadaist disgust.
It's a great way to create new problems for art and art tradition in addition to the current anxieties that they never had to create for themselves.
This is where we are.
And, as usual, they're going to lose, and cave, because they're not prepared for a long term fight. That's coming soon. Next couple of years.
Then, they'll try to retcon this whole period in history, framing both sides of the discussion as "noble" and teaching history in a non-threatening way to future generations of artists who were too young to be there, and probably not engaged enough to be asking the hard questions about what this all meant.
But until then, and probably beyond, their bad ideas about art will be challenged. I wish more people were motivated to challenge the bad ideas of the art world when there isn't an existential crisis going on.
Oh well.
All of this has happened before, and it will happen again.
But a simple, "Who are you and why the fuck are you doing this?" would have sufficed.