Why AI Art Makes My Skin Crawl (And What It Teaches Us About Sacred Intention)
-
I was elbow-deep in frozen drain pipes out in West Omaha last Tuesday when I finally had a minute to scroll through my phone. Some friend sent me a link to this new AI image generator that spits out hyper-detailed tarot spreads. I clicked it, expecting a neat trick. Instead, I got this weird, full-body shiver. You know the feeling. Everything was technically perfect—the lighting, the composition, the intricate linework—but it felt hollow. Like staring into a mirror that doesn't reflect anything back.
It's the uncanny valley, plain and simple. My brain's pattern recognition system was doing exactly what it evolved to do: scanning for presence. And it came up empty. Carl Jung wrote about how archetypes only carry psychological weight when they're filtered through lived, conscious experience. AI just mashes together statistical probabilities. There's no struggle behind the pixels. No hesitation. No moment where the artist had to choose between two shades of blue because one felt like grief and the other felt like hope.
I've been running this through my own creative rituals lately. When I'm laying down a tarot-style spread on canvas, I'm not just decorating. I'm tracking a thought. I'm letting the friction between my hand and the surface guide the shape. That friction is where the meaning lives. It's basically the same principle as predictive processing in cognitive science—our brains are wired to expect a narrative behind every mark. When that narrative is missing, replaced by a cold algorithm, the magic dies.
I remember sitting in my studio last winter, watching the snow pile up against the window while I mixed a specific shade of ochre for a major arcana card. It took me three hours to get that color right. It wasn't just paint; it was a conversation between me and the medium. AI can generate a thousand variations of that card in seconds, but it can't replicate the sweat, the doubt, or the quiet satisfaction of getting it right. That's the sacred intention we're losing. It's not about the image; it's about the soul behind the hand that made it.
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login