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Do You Use AI to Create Your Generative Art?

I do not use generative artificial intelligence (AI), or any kind of AI, to create my generative art. My code and my art are generative, but they are not generated by an agentic AI tool or large language model (LLM).

When I say that I make “generative art”, I am saying that I create art generated by following a system of rules. I create and execute those rules using code (usually JavaScript or TypeScript) but generative art can be created using any medium, including paint, sculpture, music, and poetry. Generative art has a rich history spanning centuries; it existed long before the advent of AI and even long before the advent of computers.

To reduce confusion, I will sometimes refer to my work as “algorithmic art”, rather than “generative art”, but the process is the same regardless of the terminology. I write code that defines a system, and the computer executes that code to produce an output following the rules of that system. With pseudorandom number generators, I can create a program that chooses a different sequence of random numbers each time I execute it, resulting in a unique output from each run of one algorithm.

I write every line of code in my art algorithms by hand; I am not prompting an AI model to generate code for me, nor am I using AI to generate the art itself.

Do You Use AI in Your Engineering Work?

Navigating the new and constantly evolving landscape of AI has been a challenge in my work, as the technical sphere, where AI use is more accepted and even encouraged, is completely intertwined with the creative sphere, where AI use is more controversial and divisive.

In the past, I considered my identity as an engineer to be separate from my identity as an artist, and I used that distinction to justify the use of agentic AI and LLMs in my engineering work. However, I have realized that my identity and practice as an engineer are not separate from my art identity or my art practice, at all. The code is my art; my art is the code. The code is as much a part of the final product as the images, videos, and prints that come from it. When I say that I hand-code these algorithms, when I say that I pour all of my passion for art and engineering and code into my work, I never want to feel like I need to put an asterisk next to that statement. I want to know, and I want the people who see my work to know, that the code and the art are 100% my own.

As a software engineer, educator, artist, consumer, and human, my personal views on AI are nuanced and constantly evolving. I have taken time to research and explore the benefits, drawbacks, and consequences of AI use in my own career and life. I have also observed how AI use has impacted the careers and lives of others, through news stories, social media, and personal anecdotes. Although I can see its benefits, I have decided that I do not want to use AI in my personal work: creative, technical, or otherwise.

Prior to August 2026, I used AI to perform iterative code reviews on my work. I would request a review, make updates where AI had identified issues, then request another review and begin the process again. I also used Claude Code and GitHub Copilot to generate and maintain agent instruction files and technical documentation in various projects. Changes that were made as the result of an AI code review are marked in the GitHub commit history of all my repositories, with the commit message prefix “Claude Code review:” or “GitHub Copilot review:”. You can see examples of this in my p5-webpack-typescript-template repository.

As of September 2026, I do not use any agentic AI, AI coding tools, or large language models in any of my coding projects. I have disabled AI plugins, AI suggestions, and AI autocomplete in all of my code development environments, and I do not use AI to perform code reviews or make updates to my projects.

Do You Use AI in Other Creative Fields?

Do You Use AI in Your Writing?

Prior to August 2026, I would write the first draft of my articles, blog posts, product listings, and other writings on my own, then use AI to get feedback on what I had written. I would update my writing based on the critique, then request another review, beginning an iterative process that continued until I was satisfied with the final product.

As of September 2026, I do not use agentic AI, AI coding tools, or large language models for any part of my writing process. I have disabled AI sentence and phrase completion in all of my code development and writing environments, and I do not use AI for writing reviews or critique.

Do You Use AI in Your Photography?

I do not use AI in any part of my photography process, nor have I used AI for photography, photo editing, or post-processing in the past.

Do You Use AI in Your Songwriting?

I do not use AI in my songwriting or song recording processes, nor have I used AI for songwriting or song recording in the past.

Closing Thoughts - Art and Code and Where They Meet

My work lives at the intersection of art and technology: writing code, something that is typically considered a technical skill, becomes a creative process because the code I write creates art.

I love creating art with code. I love the work that I do and the things that I create. The images, experiences, and programs that I make are the bounty of years of study, practice, success, failure, and experimentation. Each algorithm I publish is the result of weeks and months of research, development, coding, testing, iteration, improvement, and refinement.

Computers, in the beginning, were solely designed to calculate a few arithmetic operations with incredible efficiency. From the dawn of computer programming, people have been discovering and engineering ways to pull creative forms, images, sounds, movement, and entertainment from something that was meant to be a very fast, automated calculator. I am so proud and so honored to be a small part of that wonderful tradition. And although incorporating AI into that work could be considered a natural next step in the evolution of creative technology, I am making the choice to continue my adventures in my small corner of the web without it.

There is beauty in code, and code can make beautiful things.

Resources and References

For additional information about the concepts mentioned in this article, the following resources may be helpful:

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