Artificial intelligence (AI) has existed in the creative fields for decades, but in recent years its role in various aspects of making and contextualizing art has grown dramatically. The close relationship between art and technology is clear from any survey of art history, and this connection has been essential to the development of many influential ideas and techniques. Today, one of the ways that artists utilize AI is in the creation of artist’s statements. 

While AI platforms can effectively automate the creation of such documents, relying too heavily on this technology can be a hindrance. This post explores the impact of AI on artist’s statements, and asks whether machine learning can replace editing and coaching carried out by a human being. 

AI Artist’s Statement Generators

For those looking for quick results, there are numerous AI artist’s statement generators available online. I tried several that can create a statement in seconds. On these platforms, you simply provide information such as your name, where you live (something that’s actually not recommended in a statement unless it’s related to your work), your main field, and any keywords you’d like to appear in the statement. Then you can choose from a pulldown menu of writing styles. Options available on the platform linked above include: casual, formal, fancy, funny, pompous, extravagant, like a child wrote it, like total bullsh*t.

From these prompts, it certainly seems like this particular generator provides a satirical perspective on the artist’s statement’s format—perhaps it is itself a work of web-based conceptual art. However, I’ve recently seen a growing number of statements that evoke the feeling of automated writing. These texts are rife with either too much art-speak, too few concrete details about the “what, how, and why” of the artist’s practice, or both. From my perspective as a seasoned editor and artist’s coach, an AI ghostwriter does not serve as an effective substitute for a human one. 

Mimesis Is Not Always Sincere

AI’s reliance on the imitation of existing texts and its propensity for making mistakes can negatively impact the careers of artists and arts professionals.Because AI trains itself on a wide range of texts within digital datasets, essentially any type of art writing that’s published online is open to being interpreted, revised, and repurposed. There are numerous artist’s statements available on the internet and just as many articles about how to write them, which means that AI has a lot of content to mine. This system of training results in a type of AI infrastructure called a Large Language Model (LLM).

LLMs undertake a process of deep machine learning that’s inspired by the human brain, which makes them capable of mimicking and generating language. LLMs can be used for a wide variety of tasks, such as summarizing, outlining, translating, and answering questions about particular topics. AI can function perfectly well as a means to imitate even sophisticated patterns of behavior and communication, but when it comes to truly understanding art and human creativity, there’s a significant qualitative difference between a machine and a person. 

Mining Misunderstandings 

LLMs’ comprehension of artistic vocabularies and processes is developed by mining a wide variety of artist’s statements, without regard for their quality. LLMs may be able to grasp and deploy an artistic lexicon or set of terminology, but the deeper meaning will be missing. These technologies do not have the capability to authentically understand the lived experiences that are necessary to generate meaningful art—or art writing.

Artist’s statements need nuance and personalization, but LLMs frequently apply generic language and a stylistic approach that allows readers to easily detect that a text is written by AI rather than a fellow human being. Some elements that enable us to pinpoint AI writing include over-elaborate responses that present numerous perspectives rather than a more keenly focused thesis; an overtly neutral tone, even when dealing with issues that invite controversy or bias; and an aversion to making genuinely persuasive claims. 

Moreover, LLMs sometimes struggle with the changing uses of slang terms or industry-specific jargon. This is because these vocabularies rely on shared cultural experience, which AI lacks.

These characteristic pitfalls and mistakes are precisely the opposite of what an artist’s statement needs in order to be effective: personalization and close attention to the details.

Formulaic But Not Robotic

Although artist’s statements tend to follow a formula, the good ones stand out because they have a distinctively personal tone and a degree of detail that comes from a critical and authentic analysis of one’s own artistic practice. The most effective artist’s statements require nuanced organization and a true understanding of how art impacts human experiences. 

While AI seeks to replicate the operation of the human brain, it falls short of our capability to think and act through a well-rounded combination of social, emotional, and cognitive cues. This is a particular detriment to art writing, because in order to truly comprehend the affective impact that art has on human beings, you truly have to be able to experience it yourself. AI can mimic what it “learns” about art’s effect on our lives, but it can’t match the way humans experience, understand, and critically discuss art. It doesn’t have a tangible grasp on subjectivity, emotion, and empathy—all elements that are crucial to making and viewing art. 

Why Working with a Human Editor Is Better

Working on an artist’s statement with a human editor is like having an astute studio visitor who can guide a conversation toward full understanding of who you are as an artist. Coupled with their professional acumen, experience with tangible human interaction and artistic expression enables editors to form a rapport with artists in ways that AI cannot. 

Editors who specialize in working with artists typically have a degree in art history, art practice, language arts, or a related humanities field. They pair their discipline-specific knowledge with the ability to think fluently and creatively. Such editors get to know the artists they collaborate with—and their work—on a personal level. This organic connection allows the editor to provide nuanced insights and explanations that humanize the artist’s work.

I haven’t yet seen AI do any of this as well as a human being, and I have my doubts that it will ever be able to achieve results that approach the quality of what an experienced arts editor can provide. AI may seem attractive because it’s trendy and provides quick results, but an artist’s statement is a document that has lasting consequences for your career. While working with a human editor might be more time-consuming and expensive, it ensures that your statement will reflect how valuable you and your work really are. 

An Example of an Artist’s Statement Written by AI

Below are examples of two artist’s statements. The first was written by the artist in tandem with a real arts editor, while the second was created by feeding prompts to ChatGPT. 

The version created with an editor comes across as much more personable, thanks to its detailed description of the artist’s work, process, and influences. The ChatGPT generated statement isn’t necessarily terrible, but it lacks the nuanced and familiar language that only an artist or someone who has seen and understood their work can provide.

Artist’s Statement Written by a Human

My mission is to document intellectual, emotional and psychological environments. I trained as a photographer; however, in recent years, I’ve developed a multidisciplinary practice that includes photography, installation, collage, and drawing. This transformation was inspired by my desire to bring together my interests in image-making, space, and spectatorship. These themes continually inspire me and serve as a binding thread through all my works. My interest in installation is also rooted in my desire to create space for cross-cultural dialogue – creating such spaces, for me, is an outlet for political and social activism.

My creative process begins with a lengthy period of research and writing. I draw from scholarly research, interviews, local history, and my family archives to ground my work in lived experiences. From there, I use the camera (in-studio or on the street) to compose the foundational images of my work on film. Finally, I scan these images into my digital studio where they are combined with hand-drawn illustration and digital collage.

Conceptually, I start each project with an aspect of my own personal experience that I want to explore; then, evolve the work into a lasting statement on human nature. I describe the end-style of my work as narrative with a hint of fantasy. Often archival and found materials from my research make it into my final works. The mixture of archival, documented and imagined imagery allows me to transgress unwritten social laws and encourage viewers to look differently and imaginatively at their own existence.

The Same Artist’s Statement Written by ChatGPT

Trained as a photographer, I have developed a multidisciplinary practice that spans photography, installation, collage, and drawing. My work is grounded in an ongoing inquiry into image-making, space, and spectatorship, and in how visual forms can articulate intellectual, emotional, and psychological environments. Each project begins from a point of personal experience—an internal prompt or unresolved question—that becomes a framework for broader reflection. Through this process, individual narratives evolve into sustained meditations on human nature, exploring the tensions between perception, memory, and the constructed spaces we inhabit.