A fine artist isn’t concerned about AI, because their art is hung on walls. They do use it to write grants, because they admit that their writing skill is poor. A software developer wanted us to consider various open source licensing when reviewing IP and copyright.

Art & AI & IP was a gallery reception and panel discussion at Art Share LA on November 6, 2025, as part of Story Community events around their Buildathon. 

Attendees’ expertise included fine art, digital art, board game design, tech startup and software development. Everyone had a unique perspective on Art & AI & IP.

The most interesting discussion to me seemed related to time.

Viewing fine art at a gallery, we’re given information about the art, like artist name, title of piece, date and materials used, like acrylic or ceramic.

Viewing digital art, like on DevianArt, the piece might disclose AI usage, but you don’t see materials listed, like Photoshop or Inkscape, or stylus and track pad.

Viewing code on places like GitHub, we can see developers who’ve contributed to the code, most recent updates and programming languages used to build the software.

When we read fiction or poetry, there’s information about the author, publisher and date, but no one cares if the work was originally written on a typewriter.

During Art & AI & IP a fine artist and a digital artist discussed whether anyone can be an AI artist. The fine artist’s opinion was that yes, art and artists can identify as AI specific, but the digital artist’s opinion was that AI was the tool, not the art nor the artists.

Why this feels related to time is that fine art can use something like oil on canvas, which has generations of tradition, while digital artists are using software that’s constantly changing.

Of course, artists are often the first to confront any status quo, but identifying the artist or the art with the materials seems like an idea that needs to be passed down from one painter to the next, while digital artists will use their own photography in Inkscape with Claude today, but probably were using Photoshop and Figma only weeks ago.

I enjoy going to galleries and hearing artists describe their process and inspiration. I’m not concerned whether it’s flowers and light, or rolled up magazine pages and paint, or personal polaroids and Chatgpt, as much as I care about what the artist conveyed with these materials.

This still doesn’t solve IP and copyright, but considering AI as art, or AI as tool, seems useful when protecting builders and creators.

Thank you to Story Community for supporting this event and local artists!

Thank you to the event speakers and moderator for your insightful discussions!

Trevor M. Banta is the Errorgardener, a conceptual florist and skateboarder at the intersection of art + technology.

Telling stories through bright colors and unfortunate mishaps, Baha Danesh is a self taught multi-disciplinary artist based in Los Angeles, CA.

With an empathetic UX perspective, Richard Gaskin builds interactive experiences with software and board games.

Art & AI & IP was part of Story’s global community program supporting the Surreal World Assets Buildathon, where developers and creators are building the future of programmable IP. Join the Buildathon!

Art Share LA is a non profit creative incubator, gallery, performance space, and affordable housing complex dedicated to uplifting emerging artists and amplifying diverse voices. Please donate dollars & crypto!

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