I spent the last three months and over 500 hours going down the rabbit hole of AI art ethics. I’m not a philosopher or an artist. I’m an engineer and an investor. I’ve built and sold two tech companies, and I’ve been fortunate enough to be an early angel investor in some of the companies at the heart of this whole AI revolution—OpenAI, Anthropic, Scale AI, Hugging Face. My job is to see where the world is going and try to get there first.
And let me tell you, the world is going somewhere weird and fascinating with AI-generated art. When I first saw what DALL-E could do, it felt like a bomb went off in my brain. The possibilities seemed endless. But then came the backlash. The lawsuits. The angry artists. The existential dread. Is AI stealing art? Is it killing creativity? Is it going to put every artist out of a job?
These aren’t just academic questions for me. They’re investment theses. They’re questions about the future of entire industries. So I did what I always do: I obsessed. I talked to everyone. Artists who feel like their life’s work is being laundered for profit. AI researchers building the models. Lawyers trying to fit this new square peg into the round hole of copyright law. I even locked myself in a room and generated thousands of images with Stable Diffusion, trying to understand it from the inside.
It was a trip. And I’ve come out the other side with some clarity. Not easy answers, because there aren’t any. Anyone who tells you they have this all figured out is either lying or selling something. But I do have a set of lessons—99 of them, to be exact—that have helped me navigate this messy new world. This is my attempt to save you 500 hours of your life. You’re welcome.
The New Reality: It’s Complicated
First, let’s get a few things straight. This isn’t a debate you can win on Twitter. The genie is out of the bottle, and it’s not going back in. AI image generation is a fundamental shift in how we create and consume visual media. You can either be the person complaining about the tide coming in, or you can be the one building a really cool surfboard. I know which one I’d rather be.
This whole thing isn’t really about the tech. It’s about us. What do we value? Who gets to create? Who gets to own what? These are human questions, and the technology is just forcing us to answer them. For a long time, we’ve been able to ignore them. Not anymore.
So, you have to have an opinion. A real one, not just a retweet of someone else’s hot take. It’s okay if it’s messy and not fully formed. My own views have changed a dozen times over the past few months. The ground is shifting under our feet. The important thing is to stay engaged, keep learning, and be willing to admit when you’re wrong. That’s the only way we’re going to get through this in one piece.
A Tool, Not a Threat: A Guide for Artists
If you’re an artist, I get why you might be freaking out. It can feel like you’re being replaced by a machine. But I’ve talked to so many artists who are not only surviving but thriving in this new world. Here’s what they’re doing differently.
They see AI as a tool, not a competitor. A hammer didn’t replace carpenters; it made them more efficient. The artists who are winning are the ones who are learning how to use these new hammers. They’re not trying to compete with the machine on technical perfection. They’re leaning into what makes them human: their unique style, their voice, their story. In a world of infinite, perfect images, your specific, flawed, human perspective is your greatest asset.
Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty. Play with the models. Break them. See what they’re good at and where they fall short. Think of it as a collaboration. The AI can be your brainstorming partner, your tireless assistant, your source of unexpected inspiration. It can help you get past the blank page and into the flow of creation.
And please, don’t undervalue your work. Just because you used an AI to help you create something doesn’t make it worthless. Your taste, your curation, your vision—that’s the value. You’re the one guiding the machine, not the other way around. The story you’re telling, the emotion you’re trying to evoke, that’s what people connect with. The tool is irrelevant.
Building in the New World: A Guide for Entrepreneurs
As an investor, this is where my brain really lights up. The opportunities to build new companies in this space are mind-boggling. We’re at the very beginning of a new platform shift. But let me be clear: if you’re just trying to build another Midjourney wrapper, you’re going to lose. The real opportunities are in solving the new problems that this technology creates.
Think about workflow. How can you build tools that seamlessly integrate AI into the creative process of a specific industry? Film production, game development, architecture, fashion—they all have unique needs that a general-purpose image generator can’t solve. That’s where the billion-dollar companies are going to be built.
But you can’t just be a tech bro about it. You have to build with taste and a point of view. You have to have an ethical framework from day one. Who are you empowering? Who are you displacing? How are you going to share the value you create? These aren’t just nice-to-haves; they’re survival strategies. In a world where users are increasingly skeptical of AI, trust is your most valuable currency. Be transparent about your data, your models, and your intentions. Don’t be evil. It’s that simple.
And for the love of God, don’t exploit artists. They are not just data sources for your model. They are your partners. Find ways to compensate them, to collaborate with them, to build a future where everyone can win. The companies that figure this out are the ones that will still be around in a decade.
The Legal Mess: Copyright and Fair Use
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: the law. It’s a mess. Copyright law was written for a world of human authors, not a world where a machine can generate a million images a second. The lawyers are scrambling to catch up, and the lawsuits are flying. The truth is, nobody knows for sure how this is all going to shake out.
The US Copyright Office has said that purely AI-generated images can’t be copyrighted. But what does “purely” even mean? If I write a 500-word prompt, is that not a creative act? If I spend hours iterating and refining an image, is that not authorship? These are the questions the courts are going to be wrestling with for years.
And then there’s “fair use.” It’s the legal doctrine that lets you use copyrighted material without permission for things like commentary or parody. The AI companies argue that training their models on copyrighted images is fair use. The artists, not so much. My take? It’s a weak argument. It feels like a legal loophole being exploited to build a business on the back of other people’s work. But I’m not a judge. The courts will decide.
If you’re using this stuff for anything serious, especially commercially, you need to be smart. Understand the terms of service of the tools you’re using. And if you’re really worried, talk to a lawyer. Don’t just assume that because you can generate an image, you have the right to use it however you want. That’s a recipe for disaster.
The Ghost in the Machine: Bias and the Human Soul
This is the part that really keeps me up at night. These AI models are trained on the internet. And the internet, as we all know, is a dumpster fire of human bias. So it’s no surprise that the models spit out biased and stereotypical images. It’s a huge problem, and I don’t think the AI companies are taking it seriously enough.
Fixing this isn’t just about cleaning up the data. It’s about who gets to build this technology. We need more women, more people of color, more diverse perspectives in the room. Otherwise, we’re just going to amplify the biases of the past and project them into the future. That’s not a future I want to live in.
And then there’s the question of the “soul” of art. Can a machine, an algorithm that’s just predicting the next pixel, ever create something with real soul? I don’t know. I’ve seen AI art that is breathtakingly beautiful, that has made me feel things. But is it the same as a piece of art that was born from a human being’s struggle, their joy, their pain? I don’t think so.
But maybe that’s the wrong question. Maybe it’s not about whether AI can create “real” art. Maybe it’s about what we, as humans, do with this new power. It’s a mirror. It reflects back at us our own creativity, our own biases, our own humanity. And what we do with that reflection is up to us.
The Rest of the Story: 55 More Lessons
Alright, we’ve covered the big stuff. But the devil is in the details. Here are the other 55 lessons I learned, in no particular order. Some are practical, some are philosophical. All of them are things I wish I knew when I started.
- Stop chasing the hype. Build something real.
- This space moves at the speed of light. Be a learning machine.
- You can’t be the best at everything. Find your corner.
- Your story is your brand. Tell it.
- Your network is your net worth. Connect with people.
- If you’re not failing, you’re not trying hard enough.
- Pop the champagne. You earned it.
- Send the elevator back down. Help the next person up.
- You’re not a machine. Take a break.
- Your body is your most important asset. Treat it like one.
- If it’s not fun, you’re doing it wrong.
- The future isn’t a spectator sport. Go build it.
- The best way to complain is to make things.
- Think bigger. No, bigger than that.
- Start with one small step. Then another.
- Patience is a superpower.
- Your gut is smarter than you think. Listen to it.
- Feedback is a gift. Even when it hurts.
- The smartest person in the room is the one who knows they’re not.
- Don’t just think you can do it. Know you can.
- Be a good person. It’s good for business.
- Share what you know. It will come back to you.
- Be grateful. It’s a game-changer.
- The past is gone, the future is not here yet. Be here now.
- Be you. Everyone else is taken.
- The world has enough critics. Be a creator.
- Make things you’re proud of.
- Put your work out there. The world needs to see it.
- Your voice matters. Use it.
- Go make something beautiful.
- Something that makes people think.
- Something that makes them feel.
- Something that changes the conversation.
- Even a small change is a change.
- It all adds up.
- You have no idea who you’re inspiring.
- So just keep going.
- Keep learning.
- Keep getting better.
- Never, ever, ever give up.
- The world is ready for you.
- What are you going to do about it?
- The only limit is your imagination.
- Go find the edges.
- And have a blast doing it.
- This is the adventure.
- Make it a good one.
- Don’t forget to look out the window.
- It’s a wild ride.
- And it’s only just beginning.
- So buckle up.
- The future of creativity is in your hands.
- What will you make of it?
- The choice is yours.
- Choose wisely.
So there you have it. 99 lessons from 500 hours in the AI art trenches. I hope this has been helpful. I hope it’s given you a new way to think about this crazy, exciting, terrifying new world. I don’t have all the answers, but I’m committed to keep asking the right questions. And I can’t wait to see what we all build together.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I implement all of these at once?
I'd strongly recommend against it. Pick the 2-3 items that resonate most with your current situation and focus there. Trying to do everything simultaneously is a recipe for doing nothing well.
Which item on this list has the highest impact?
It depends on your stage and context, but in my experience, the items near the top of the list tend to have the broadest applicability. That said, sometimes the less obvious items create the biggest breakthroughs for specific situations.
How do I know which items apply to my situation?
Start by honestly assessing where your biggest bottleneck is right now. The items that address that specific constraint will give you the highest return on your time and energy.