Our AI Policy

Artificial Intelligence is when technology is programmed to do things that normally need a human brain. For example, it can interpret your questions based on what you have previously asked. It gradually learns what you like and need and can tailor its response the more you use it, giving you more sophisticated and personalised results.

The Benefits and Costs of using AI

Lots of people are starting to use AI. It is being introduced across tools we all use every day. For instance, when you search the internet for something, the first summary of information you see is normally produced by AI.

AI can now solve complex mathematical problems, write books, create images that look like art, and give you information about anything on the internet. It is now being used by many companies across the world to improve services, including banks and the government.

Unfortunately it is not yet regulated, so in the wrong hands it can be used for illegal things too.

With AI becoming harder to avoid, we at Art for Life want to be sure that we use it responsibly. That means we need to make sure we follow the law, and only use AI in a way that reflects our values.

Navigating AI Without Compromising Our Our Values

As well as caring about people, we love the incredible planet we are privileged to live on, and already make decisions to be more environmentally friendly. We make ethical choices where we can and donate some of our profits to good causes such as The Woodland Trust, the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity.

AI is having an increasingly negative impact on the environment, mainly due to massive energy use, heavy water consumption, and mining for hardware minerals. A single AI query can use up to ten times more energy than an internet search, which contributes to global warming.

This is not aligned with our values, so we want to keep our use of AI to an absolute minimum. And that includes the use of AI produced content.

Our Commitment to Human-Made Content

Fortunately we are blessed with a knowledgeable and talented team, so we are able to produce our own high quality written content, artwork and designs.

Our Introduction to Art course was written and developed by our very own tutors, based on our tried and tested approach that we know is most helpful and informative for total beginners. Our All Abilities curriculums and projects are also devised by our own team, who take into account the needs of our students, as well as the individual passions and expertise that the tutors would like to share with them.

We know what our students enjoy, and how to challenge them to try new things and develop new skills without overwhelming them. We have conversations with them every day, and respond in our lesson planning.

Our tutors love to pass on what they know, and collectively they have over 160 years' experience in teaching art! We know our stuff and trust we know the best way to teach it. If you asked AI to create a curriculum, the results would combine many different people's ways of teaching art, which would result in confusing and conflicting advice.

Our tutors create original artwork for every project, and personally write the tutor notes to ensure consistent success across all classes, and we write our own course notes to support students' ongoing learning. We think this personal touch helps us stand out from our competitors and provide our students with the best possible learning experience.

Our Insights on AI Art

Some people worry about how AI will change arts and culture. We want everyone in our community to enjoy the freedom and joy that using a range of different media brings. We don’t believe, however, that AI produced ‘art’ is either creative or ethical. AI is only able to produce art, because it steals the work of other artists on the internet.

This does harm to real artists trying to make a living from their craft, and sadly we have seen many successful artists close their doors since AI has begun reproducing their work.

Therefore we choose not to use AI for our visual aids, or as inspiration for any of our projects. We prefer to work from life, or human-taken photographs that draw on the real world for inspiration.

Should you choose to use AI for your project, that’s absolutely fine, we won’t judge! Just be cautious though, as AI does produce some very unbalanced images. You may find yourself copying mistakes. AI is however, becoming increasingly hard to detect, so if we make a mistake and you spot an AI picture in our visual aids, please let us know so we can remove it.

In summary

We are unable to avoid AI completely as it is being introduced into many tools that we use daily, like internet searches, banking, support chats, and design tools. However we are committed to avoiding it where possible. Keeping its use to a minimum helps us in our commitment to supporting real-world art and real human creativity and connection. We use it only occasionally, for example to enhance productivity, but never to make art.

We think art is one of the most beautiful things humans create, and it’s so good for our wellbeing to make it ourselves. So much joy and learning comes in the process, it truly is about the journey, not just the picture. 

We hope that one day this technology will become more environmentally friendly - but when it does, we would prefer it to do the dishes and take the bins out - so that we can make more art!