The Future of Art in the Age of AI: Sarah Sze’s Visionary Perspective

Renowned artist Sarah Sze explores why artificial intelligence enhances rather than replaces human creativity in art.

Key Takeaways

• AI functions as a powerful tool for artists, but cannot replicate the unpredictable moments of genuine human creativity
• The digital and physical worlds are already merged in our daily experience, making the distinction less relevant than we think
• Museums need to become more accessible to democratize art appreciation across all social and economic backgrounds
• Copyright and ownership concepts will inevitably evolve as image-sharing technology continues advancing rapidly
• The humanities become more crucial, not less, as AI develops - we need human wisdom to guide these powerful tools
• Speed of technological change mirrors historical periods like the railroad era, creating new artistic possibilities without replacing traditional mediums
• True artistic value comes from the unpredictable, non-derivative moments that emerge from human process and discovery
• Longing represents the digital medium's unique emotional contribution to art, creating desire for fuller sensory experiences
• Younger generations naturally navigate digital-physical boundaries, offering fresh perspectives on using AI tools creatively

The Tool vs. The Creator: Redefining AI's Role in Art

Here's the thing about AI that most people get wrong - it's not trying to become an artist. Sarah Sze, whose installations at the Guggenheim captivate visitors for longer than any other exhibition according to security staff, puts it perfectly: AI is a tool, not a creature. The difference matters more than you might think.

When people worry about AI replacing artists, they're missing the fundamental nature of what makes art meaningful. Sze points out that creativity sits at the heart of every field, not just the arts. "At the top of any field, creativity is always the key ingredient to making it the top of that field," she explains. This means the concern shouldn't be whether AI can create art, but whether it can replicate the uniquely human process of genuine discovery.

• AI operates primarily through prediction, making it inherently derivative by drawing from existing knowledge bases
• The most compelling moments in art happen when artists surprise even themselves during the creative process
• Graduate art students, Sze notes, must learn what's derivative about their work to push beyond it toward something truly new
• The unpredictable elements that emerge during creation are what viewers recognize as authentic discovery

The comparison to Einstein and Picasso's famous quote about stealing versus borrowing becomes particularly relevant here. Great artists don't just reference past work - they transform it into something completely unexpected. This transformation requires the kind of real-time, intuitive decision-making that happens when humans follow their process into unknown territory.

Digital Reality: Blurring the Lines We Never Should Have Drawn

One of Sze's most compelling insights challenges how we think about digital versus physical reality. "The digital is physical," she states matter-of-factly. This isn't philosophical wordplay - it's an observation about how we actually experience the world now.

Think about it: digital images are light, pixels, screens. Your phone has weight, generates heat, and breaks when you drop it. The supposed divide between digital and physical exists more in our language than in reality. Sze discovered this through conversations with young people who regularly confuse whether experiences happened digitally or physically - like the student who expected his physical book to "go dead" when the subway went underground.

• The merger of digital and physical reality accelerated dramatically during COVID, forcing even older generations to adapt
• Our visual language now consists of high, low, and manipulated images creating an increasingly complex visual vocabulary
• Photography has essentially disappeared back into moving images, with still photos becoming just one frame in a continuous stream
• Young people never take single photos anymore - they capture multiple frames and choose the best ones, treating images like paintings to be edited and perfected

This blending creates what Sze identifies as the digital medium's superpower: longing. Digital experiences always leave you wanting more sensory information - the smell, the texture, the full physical presence. Rather than being a limitation, this longing becomes a profound artistic tool for connecting with fundamental human experiences.

Museums as Democratic Spaces: Breaking Down Cultural Barriers

Sze's perspective on museum accessibility reveals someone who understands art's true purpose. She describes museums as places where you connect with humanity across centuries through objects and images, creating a communal yet individual experience that combats loneliness.

The challenge isn't just physical access - it's psychological. Museums can feel intimidating if you've never been in one, similar to how gyms intimidate people who don't consider themselves physically fit. The solution requires systemic change, not just good intentions.

• Museums need to become completely free and accessible to everyone, particularly in cities where most residents have never entered their local institutions
• School groups and educational programs should make museum visits routine parts of childhood, not special occasions
• The goal is making cultural institutions feel like natural extensions of public space rather than exclusive venues
• Art appreciation doesn't require formal education or interpretation - personal response matters more than "correct" understanding

When Sze says she loves that people experience her public art in subway stations without knowing who created it, she's emphasizing art's power to affect people directly, without the mediation of reputation or context. This democratic approach to art consumption reflects her broader vision of culture as sustenance rather than luxury.

Copyright, Ownership, and the Evolving Art World

The question of AI using existing artworks for training data reveals Sze's pragmatic approach to technological change. When shown AI-generated images "inspired by" her work, her response surprised many: she found them interesting and had no ownership concerns.

This reaction stems from understanding art as part of a continuous human conversation across time. "My work is just a continuum of everyone else's work anyway," she explains. "I hope I'm talking to Vermeer, I hope I'm talking to Rothko." This perspective reframes the copyright debate entirely.

• Legal frameworks will inevitably change because image trading and sharing technology evolves weekly
• The distinction between harmful appropriation (warfare, deception) and creative appropriation (imaginative world-building) matters more than blanket prohibition
• Many historical artworks exist without known creators, yet they continue moving and inspiring people centuries later
• Artists in different fields (fine art vs. design) face different challenges regarding reproduction and livelihood protection

Sze acknowledges that artists whose livelihoods depend on exact reproduction face genuine threats from AI, particularly in commercial design fields. However, she sees her own work as contributing to a larger cultural conversation where mashups and reinterpretations might actually expand the work's impact and meaning.

Her approach to Instagram demonstrates this philosophy in action - she uses hashtags to discover how others photograph her installations, often finding the most beautiful documentation of her work through strangers' perspectives.

The Future of Human Expression in an AI World

What emerges from Sze's discussion is a vision of AI as a speed amplifier rather than a replacement for human creativity. She draws parallels to historical technological shifts - when trains required universal time zones, when airplanes changed how we perceived distance and speed. Each major technological shift created new artistic movements without eliminating traditional forms.

The current AI revolution fits this pattern. People are seeking out film photography and analog processes precisely because digital ubiquity makes physical media feel more precious. The piano didn't become obsolete when synthesizers emerged; instead, it found new contexts and audiences.

• Historical technological revolutions (trains, airplanes) created fascinating periods in art history focused on speed and perception without eliminating existing mediums
• Young people in their early twenties show particular interest in exploring AI's creative potential by "tearing the thing apart" and examining it from all angles
• The humanities become more crucial as AI develops because we need human wisdom to guide these powerful tools ethically and effectively
• Art will remain essential as humanity's time capsule - the most interesting thing future civilizations would discover about us

Sze's final thoughts focus on culture as humanity's greatest achievement and lasting legacy. Whether everything goes right or wrong in the next fifteen years, our artistic expressions will represent what it meant to be alive on Earth during this particular moment in time.

The goal isn't to compete with AI but to use it as another tool for exploring what makes us human. Just as photography didn't kill painting but pushed it in new directions, AI will likely expand artistic possibilities while making the uniquely human elements of creativity even more valuable and necessary.

Art remains our most direct method for connecting across time and space, for sharing the experience of consciousness itself. No predictive algorithm, no matter how sophisticated, can replicate the moment when an artist discovers something unexpected in their own process and translates that surprise into an experience that moves others. That's the territory where human creativity will always reign supreme.