It’s About Intent, Not the Tool
Boris Lermontov says something quietly devastating in the movie, The Red Shoes: “It is worth remembering, that it is much more disheartening to have to steal than to be stolen from, hmmm?”
I think about that line often, especially now. He said this in response to a student’s creation being stolen by his teacher.
Lately, I’ve seen artists attacked online for something as simple as mentioning they use AI as part of their creative process. The word AI alone has become a kind of litmus test. Say it, and suddenly your ethics, talent, and humanity are on trial.
But history tells us something important: the tool is rarely the real problem.
We’ve Been Here Before. Just With Different Tools.
Photoshop was once (and still is) a revolutionary creative tool. The same artists that attack someone for mentioning AI, sing Photoshop’s praises. However, it’s also been used by magazines to create bodies that never existed. You’ve seen the impossibly small waists, flawless skin, altered proportions. For decades, those images helped fuel eating disorders, body dysmorphia, and deep self-hatred in women and girls. Photoshop is also expensive. Should only those who can afford it be able to create art?
The problem wasn’t and isn’t Photoshop.
The problem has always been how it was used, who it served, and who paid the price.
The same is true in film. CGI can be breathtaking when it supports the story. But when it’s overused, when spectacle replaces soul, it can feel hollow or cartoonish. Again, not because the technology is evil, but because intention matters.
A Different Kind of Power
Now imagine something else.
A child sees a mermaid sticker for the first time, and the mermaid looks like them.
Their skin tone. Their hair texture. Their body. Their joy.
For a child who has never seen themselves reflected in fantasy, that moment matters. Deeply.
That image might exist because an artist used AI as part of their workflow, not to deceive, not to erase effort, but to expand possibility. To create representation where none existed before.
That isn’t theft.
That’s care.
Tools Reflect the Hands That Hold Them
When people say “AI is stealing,” I think of Lermontov’s line again. Sadly there are some people who steal or copy work from others with or without AI. I feel sorry for someone who has the inability to conveive of or create something on their own. However, I think there are some additional questions we must ask. Who is truly being stolen from? If you truly create something, conceive of an idea on your own and bring it to life, someone may attempt to copy it, but they can never take away your inspiration or the fact that you created something. Who has always had access to the tools, platforms, and power?
Most independent artists using AI aren’t replacing human creativity. They are human creativity. They are simply adapting, experimenting, surviving. They’re not giant corporations scraping profit at scale. They’re people trying to make meaningful, beautiful things in a world that keeps changing.
Condemning tools without examining intent feels easy. It feels righteous. But it often misses the point.
What We Should Be Asking Instead
Not:
- Is this tool allowed?
But:
- Who benefits from how it’s used?
- Who is harmed?
- Who is finally being included?
- Is the work thoughtful, transparent, and human?
Because every creative tool from paint to photography to Photoshop to CGI has been both a gift and a weapon depending on who wielded it, and why.
Moving Forward With More Grace
Art has always evolved alongside technology. What gives it meaning isn’t purity. It is purpose.
If we care about creativity, we should care less about gatekeeping tools and more about nurturing intention. Less about attacking one another, and more about asking how art can reflect more people, more truth, more kindness.
That, to me, is worth remembering.