Digital Art Is Not AI Art—And WHY That Matters

As conversations around art and technology evolve, a new question has begun to surface: Is digital art the same as AI art? The answer is simple: No, it’s not.

"Cat on head" by Lisa Albinus using Procreate.

While both digital art and AI-generated images are created on screens, they come from entirely different sources—and serve very different creative purposes. Digital artists create with intention, experience, and skill. They use tools like styluses, tablets, and software such as Procreate, Photoshop, or Clip Studio Paint to sketch, draw, layer, and refine. Every line, brushstroke, color choice, and detail is a decision made by the artist. The process mirrors traditional artmaking—just with digital tools instead of physical ones. At its core, digital art is handmade, pixel by pixel. Digital artists train in anatomy, perspective, storytelling, color theory, and design. They gather inspiration, make mistakes, revise, and push through creative blocks. The software may be digital, but the art is still the result of a human imagination brought to life by practiced hands.

AI Created art. Art created through text prompts.

AI art, on the other hand, is generated by algorithms. AI tools create images based on written prompts. A user types in a description—sometimes detailed, sometimes vague—and the AI uses pre-existing visual data (often scraped from millions of artworks online, sometimes without artists’ consent) to compile a new image. The user may tweak the prompt or settings, but the creation itself comes from code, not from hands-on artistry. There is no sketch. No underdrawing. No brushwork or intuitive adjustments. No hours spent studying reference or reworking a face until it "feels right." AI art is not drawn—it is assembled.

"Muffins" by Lisa Albinus using Procreate

It’s important to recognize and honor the distinction. One involves craftsmanship. The other involves computation.

This isn’t about gatekeeping—it’s about clarity and respect. Digital artists are not “pushing buttons” or “just using an app.” They are doing the same creative work as painters, illustrators, and designers have done for centuries—only with different tools.

So if you’re an artist using Procreate, Photoshop, or any other digital medium: you are not using AI. You are not cheating. You are doing real, skilled, expressive work. And it deserves to be seen, valued, and understood as such. Let’s celebrate the difference. Let’s honor the artist’s hand, whether it holds a pencil or a stylus.

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