On Making Art by and for Humans
A very human experience.
My mom was in the hospital for most of the past two weeks. Too distracted to do much else, I sat by her bedside, doodling in my sketchbook and noticing how different it felt to create art during a time of crisis. We both experienced a flurry of emotions during the long hours at the hospital and after we brought her home. We also experienced physical and mental stress, as well as love and caring for one another. In other words, we were having a human experience together.
Despite this intense situation, I kept noticing Ai all around me. It showed up everywhere - from my text message app trying to summarize messages for me, to my bookeeping software, reminding me which invoices were past due. It was a weird reminder of the contrast and connections between humans and machines, even as I felt gratitude for the medical technology that supported my mom’s recovery.
Like all human inventions, Ai can be used to support good or bad intentions. However, the existence of Ai-generated images and art makes me queasy.
It makes me wonder: What does it mean to be a human who creates art?
“There is no cure for being human.”
What does it mean to be human, anyway?
Here’s what comes to mind:
Ability to love and care for others; and to receive love and kindness;
Experiencing the full range of emotions on any given day;
Connection with the broader spirit of the universe, in all its different forms;
Feeling empathy, connection, and justice for ourselves and for others;
Being imperfect, embracing that imperfections lead to evolution and positive change; and
The ability to perceive beauty, and to create beauty around us.
For me, it’s this last one that really resonates.
Meep boop. Robot make art. Hand drawn by real human Molly Chidsey.
Art helps us connect with our humanity
If art created by Ai can only be generated by “scraping” images of others’ art on the vast internet, can Ai art exist on its own? And if so, what’s the point of consuming that art? Ai-generated art might elicit an emotional reaction, connect us with our spiritual self, or inspire empathy. However, the purpose is usually to sell a product or idea to consumers. In this way, it’s similar to how a talented graphic artist designs an ad that tugs on our heartstrings.
This leads me back to my original question: What does it mean to be a human who makes art? And why is it important to continue to create art without help from Ai? If “creating visual art is one of the defining characteristics of the human species,” (1), then creating art is fundamentally part of what makes us human.
Creating art helps us understand ourselves and the world around us, and to connect with our own humanity. Human-generated art benefits from our unique ability to tap into our emotions, question the world around us, share our imperfections, and channel these experiences into our creative practices.
On a deeper level, I believe that creativity is the human ability to imagine a different, more beautiful and just, future state for the world around us, then crafting a path to turn it into reality (read my creative manifesto here). That’s why I support others’ creative endeavors through my coaching business, Creatively Plan.
In the meantime, keep nurturing your creative self. Doodle in the margins. Sing in the car. Fold paper airplanes. Stick googley eyes on random objects to make others laugh. Or, join me for an art workshop. Art is what we - humans - make of it.
About me
I’m an illustrator, designer, and creative coach who brings together art, strategy, and story.
Whether through visual design or project planning, my work is about helping people imagine—and then build—the world they want to see.
In my blog, Behind the Scenes, I share a glimpse inside my creative process, free art tutorials, and sneak previews from my illustration studio in Portland, Oregon.
References
(1) From “The evolution of human artistic creativity,” by Gillian M. Morriss-Kay. Journal of Anatomy, 2009. Accessed March 11, 2026. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2815939/#sec2
