Art, Identity, and AI: Navigating Authenticity in Creative Practice

This pictorial explores the intersection of art practice and generative artificial intelligence (GAI) through a first-person approach, examining its role in overcoming creative block. It puts forward a journey from March 2023 to January 2025; the researcher (as artist/artist as a researcher) examines how generative artificial intelligence tools, including ChatGPT and MidJourney, reignited a passion for looser (imperfect) art practice. This process led to self-scrutiny through self-portrait that bridges personal and research. While generative artificial intelligence ignited creativity, it brought authenticity, originality, and tensions with ethics. These concerns are addressed through themes such as attribution transparency, the ethics of relying on non-human solutions and balancing inspiration versus imitation. The pictorial shares extracts from a two-year digital sketchbook that reflects how GAI can support artists in times of crisis and contributes to broader conversations about GAI's role in art practice. It invites readers to consider the evolving relationship between artists and GAI in shaping the future of art practice.