An artist using AI to run her business explains why she isn't worried about it replacing artists

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sara Wilczynska, a 41-year-old watercolor artist and founder of Swil Arts who lives in San Diego. Prior to her art career, she worked as a software engineer in the finance and tech industries before quitting her job at Google in 2022. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I founded my art studio in 2023 — after quitting my software engineer job at Google the year prior — which was when generative AI started to become more accessible and powerful. In a way, I was growing my studio with it, and having a tech background made me more prone to experiment, be excited, and feel less scared of it.

However, I was always very clear that I never wanted AI to replace me at the core and the heart of my business. I wanted to create and to add value to people's lives through my creativity. Still, I identified that there are many things involved in running a business that require time, energy, and money, which AI can really help reduce friction with.

I believe there's a way for artists and creatives to work with AI, and it can hopefully help us redefine the value we add as artists and creatives.

I'd never use AI to generate any artwork. I've always had a very clear boundary around that — I'll never use AI for art creation, ideation, creative brainstorming, and visual storytelling.

From the beginning of my art career, I've used traditional media — ink, watercolor, brushes, and paper. Even if I digitize it later in order to put it on products, the heart of it is creating everything in a traditional way with hands and traditional mediums.

I saw a lot of potential and value in the human aspect of it, like sketching on location and capturing with all the senses. AI can process an image, but it's not going to have that experience or perspective or interpretation or locality — all the things that a human adds.

Add BI in Google so our reporting is easier to find when you’re searching for what matters.

I have a weekly newsletter where I share updates from the studio, in which I also sprinkle in what I call "California moments worth keeping." These are different snapshots of Southern California life that I sketched, as well as a little story of the inspiration.

I wouldn't go to AI and say, "Come up with a 'California moment worth keeping' for my newsletter," because that's not authentic. The whole point is that it's my lived experience.

When I've already captured the moment, sketched it, taken pictures of my sketches, and have the story behind it, I feel OK for AI to proofread or edit my newsletter and to suggest a better flow of sentences, because I'm not a copywriter.

I treat AI almost like a voice recorder. Often, I'll come up with the thoughts, topic, and content that I want to write, and speak it to my phone while I'm lying down or commuting. My stories and content are my own, though.