AI as a Collaborator

Last week, over some wine and chips at  Drop-in, we had a great chat about my "Highlands Cattle" collection currently exhibited in Richmond, and more broadly, about my journey creating artworks in collaboration with AI. I kicked things off by sharing a bit of my backstory—which I’ve already posted as "My Story" here on the site, so I won’t repeat it—but I was genuinely inspired by the reactions and the discussion that followed.

I had a great chat over wine with Drop-in members

One comment that stuck with me came from a graphic designer in the group. She said it was fascinating to see how someone without all the traditional skills could still bring creative ideas to life through AI. And it’s true—AI has this amazing potential to elevate what you're capable of. You can write a novel, compose music, create artwork, generate news stories, code, build presentations… the list goes on. You might not become best-in-class overnight, but if you come in with a bit of background or creative instinct, AI can give you a serious leg up.

We talked about some of the practical benefits too. Like, say you’ve got an idea in mind—AI can help you quickly visualise it. You can test your concept, tweak it, and avoid spending hours on something that might not land. It’s also great for coming up with alternatives. You might have two or three possible directions already, but throw your question at AI and suddenly there’s a fourth one you hadn’t even considered. Sure, it might come buried under a pile of irrelevant suggestions, but every now and then, there's this gem—an unexpected angle that shifts your whole perspective.

And of course, we had to touch on the big question: Can something still be called art if it’s made with AI?

I said upfront that I see these works landing somewhere between decoration and art, depending on the intention behind them. I was genuinely curious to hear other takes. One person said that if there’s a unique creative idea behind it—something you're trying to express—then that’s art, regardless of the tools used. Someone else pointed out how even slightly changing a prompt can lead to a completely different AI-generated image, speaking to the uniqueness of the result.

That led to an interesting debate about who the artist really is: the person writing the prompt or the AI generating the output? One take was to think of the AI as the artist and the human as the curator—a particularly fitting analogy when vague prompts are involved, and the AI fills in most of the blanks. In the end, the general feeling in the room was that yes, this can be art. It's a collaborative process between human and machine, and that's why I now describe my projects as “collaborated with AI.”

Our conversation drifted into deeper waters, too—from how AI boosts human potential to how it might displace parts of the workforce; from its role in processing information to whether it could ever make independent decisions. Even those in the group who hadn’t yet engaged with AI felt that reckoning with it was inevitable. One way or another, AI is going to shape how we work, think, play, and interact.

We wrapped up with a bunch of thoughtful, encouraging ideas about how to take this project forward—and honestly, it left me feeling energized and hopeful. Huge thanks to everyone who came along, and especially to Henry at Drop-In for making the whole thing happen 😊