In late February of this year, the Calgary Public Library (CPL) announced via social media that they were inviting local artists to apply for their latest Creative in Residence position, “Artificial Intelligence Collaborative (AIC) Artist.”
In their post, the library stated that for the role they were looking for an artist “who uses AI ethically as a collaborative partner in their creative process” and who “is exploring and helping answer the questions this evolving technology raises about creativity and art.”
Backlash swiftly ensued, with the majority of responses to the post, including Mayor Jeromy Farkas, voicing criticisms of this decision by the CPL. This announcement has opened the door for all individuals in the city to examine and discuss the role of AI in the realm of art.
With the widespread use of models such as ChatGPT, Claude and Midjourney Generative AI transforming the art world, they’ve been utilized to create art in various ways across different disciplines. But the use of AI to create art is frowned upon by many artists and for several reasons.
Many AI models use large amounts of energy and resources too, making the environmental cost of this technology significant. Image generation and large language models are also trained on publicly accessible artwork made by artists who oftentimes have not given consent or been compensated for the use of their work. Another issue that arises is the loss of income and job opportunities, as a rising number of companies and consumers have begun to use AI to create illustrations, graphics and advertisements in place of hiring or buying from human artists.
In the city of Calgary, the public library is known for its longstanding relationship with the local artist, promoting creativity and learning through positions such as the Creatives in Residence role. The Creatives in Residence is a post that allows artists in the community to share knowledge and insights related to their work with the community. Because of the extensive history between the CPL and the city’s creatives, they expressed feelings of betrayal towards the library for choosing to spotlight AI in this way.
In the Change.org petition created by a former Creative in Residence, Jordan Wieban, summarises the common sentiment amongst artists when the residency was first announced: “the deployment of AI in an "arts residency" prematurely legitimizes the replacement of human artists in favour of a technology that explicitly is designed to replace them.”
Despite the reaction from the community, the library chose Paul Freeman to serve as the resident AIC artist from June 29 to September 4, 2026.
Freeman sat down with the Gauntlet to discuss his residency and address the concerns from the community about the growing prominence of AI in art spaces.
He is well aware of the great amount of pushback that comes with exploring the creative potential of AI. He explains that his role is not to dismiss these reservations but to highlight how his use of AI is a personal investigation into the value or opportunities created by this technology.
“I do feel like it's wrong to dismiss other people's concerns. And that's not what I'm doing when I'm making my art,” stated Freeman. “I'm really just trying to figure out: is this thing any good? How does it work? Can you make something and call it your own? That's kind of the experiment that I'm running. And I don't treat it as anything more than that.”
Freeman is an interdisciplinary artist who has attended the University of Alberta and the Alberta University of the Arts. He began to utilize stable diffusion and image generator models to create pieces in 2022.
He has spent his time since then building a bespoke interface, a custom, intricate workspace tailored to Freeman's specific direction and goals for image creation.
Freeman does not use AI as a tool, but as a medium to make art that cannot be generated through traditional means. This new technology allows him to create massive images not by simply enlarging or stretching pixels, but through "nurturing" his images up to a large scale. Through this process, Freeman is able to create illustrations that are made of up to two billion pixels and stand at 28 feet tall once printed.
“[AI] is not the paintbrush. It's certainly not the painter, but it is the paint,” said Freeman.
Part of Freeman's job as the Creative in Residence is meeting with individuals either in online sessions or workshops to discuss working with AI. He describes how he regularly meets individuals who are initially deeply skeptical about his art, but have their perspectives changed by the end of their discussions.
“I have had the pleasant experience of everyone who comes to see me, who maybe thought it was suspicious, dumb or cheating, saw what I was doing […] I'd say they all left essentially feeling the same way: “that’s not what I expected”. That's the part I found gratifying,” said Freeman.
Though Freeman is open to delving into the promise of AI as a medium, he agrees with concerns many have about integrating AI into an individual's creative process. Freeman understands many of the ethical and environmental issues linked to this new technology, and though he feels that he cannot speak on these concerns with a large amount of authority, he tries to find solutions to limit his individual contribution to harm. This includes using models that have already been for image generation, which utilize less energy and resources than continuously building or training models himself.
Freeman also concedes how for those at the beginning of their journey as artists, such as students, unrestrained use of AI can severely stunt an individual’s skill development and the evolution of their artistic identity. He argues that despite these issues, the capabilities of generative AI should not be written off entirely.
“It doesn't mean AI has no place, but it needs to be really judiciously used, probably with the help of some kind of mentor,” said Freeman.
Overall, the CPL’s decision to create the AIC artist position has revealed the need for more conversations about the role of AI in Calgary’s art community.
If any significant progress is to be made in creating a definitive precedent for AI use that most will agree on, all perspectives, including artists, industry members, institutions and companies, must all be able to have their voices heard and viewpoints taken into consideration.
