I met an AI artist and now believe there's a legitimate future for AI art

As a journalist in the creative industries, the rise in AI art has always been a moral quandary for me. On one hand, I see creativity moving with technological advancements; on the other, I see the death of art as we know it. When I used to hear about new AI image generators or schlocky AI trends, I was often filled with a sense of dread – that was until I met AI artist, Niceaunties.

Redefining the confines of AI artwork, Niceaunties is unabashed about her use of AI technology, putting an unfathomably bizarre spin on artificially augmented creativity. Inspired by her Singaporean upbringing and the beautiful unpredictability of the world around us, Niceaunties' ever-expanding world of the Auntieverse transcends the derivative slop that AI art is often associated with, turning it into an immersive time capsule of asian culture.

I had the pleasure of meeting Niceaunties at this year's OFFF festival in Barcelona, where we sat down to discuss the inspiration behind her art and the reception it has received over the years. One glance at her artwork shows an explosion of elderly asian women in unconventional settings, blending the mundane with the surreal to create an infinite dreamscape. This is the Auntieverse.

But why aunties? For the artist, it's an expression of culture – a time capsule to immortalise a misunderstood side of asian culture, often associated with unwanted judgmental comments juxtaposed with expressions of love (typically through food).

"There's a particular behaviour stuck between moving from the past to future traditions, and converting to modern life after being suppressed by 2,000 years of Chinese history, all while managing family and societal expectations. That creates a very complex character," Niceaunties explains. "I would imagine that in about 50 to 100 years, they will go extinct, because people like my generation will become a very different set of aunties so I want to remember them."

Niceaunties discovered AI as an artistic medium by chance after increasingly seeing AI renders during her career in architecture. From there, she discovered Midjourney and soon began experimenting. "It was like a eureka moment that completely changed the way I think about the creation of ideas and visuals," she explains.

Despite embracing AI, Niceaunties isn't naive to the backlash and trepidation towards embracing AI in the creative industries. "I think there has always been a lot of conversation surrounding my work, and I think that's good," she says. "If you have a lot of conversation, there will always be positive and negative voices, but I see it as a good debate because it makes people think," she adds, "Yes, there were hostile comments in the beginning, but right now it's getting better."

AI became a natural medium to channel Niceaunties' creativity due to its adaptable and instantaneous output. "I feel like using AI to create is the shortest distance between my ideas and a visual," she explains. "Before AI, I was living a life full of discipline, rules and control – I felt like I was bottling up all these ideas and feelings inside me. So it was like like a flood gate opened and everything just poured out."

Behind the bizarre dreamscapes of the Auntiverse, Niceaunties AI art is about embracing heritage. "It's a great way to preserve history," she tells me. "Who decides what gets to be visible in art? Through social media, underrepresented topics can go viral and reach a lot of people who will maybe start questioning their ideas about ageing, beauty standards, and all kinds of subjects."

Immersing yourself in the Auntieverse, it's evident that there's boundless creativity to be found in AI art – what often lacks in the AI slop that invades our timelines is Niceauntie's unbounded imagination. While I once felt a sense of derision for AI art, after entering her bizarre but heartfelt creative world, I felt a sense of hope for the future of AI art – a place where it can be legitimised and appreciated by those willing to have an open mind.