AI completes Keith Haring's intentionally unfinished painting, sparking ethics debate
User @DonnelVillager on X used AI to complete Keith Haring's 1989 painting 'Unfinished Painting,' which Haring left deliberately incomplete as a commentary on the AIDS epidemic. The AI-generated version fills the blank canvas with Haring-style figures, undermining the original work's message. Haring died of AIDS in 1990 at age 31. The Keith Haring Foundation has not commented. The incident reignites debate over AI in art, especially as Haring's works were reportedly used to train Midjourney's AI model, raising copyright concerns. Earlier in 2023, Christie's auctioned five digital drawings Haring made on a Commodore Amiga in 1987 as NFTs, with the Foundation using Ethereum blockchain for preservation.
Key facts
- User @DonnelVillager posted an AI-completed version of Keith Haring's 1989 painting 'Unfinished Painting' on X.
- Haring intentionally left the painting incomplete as a commentary on the AIDS epidemic.
- Haring died of AIDS in 1990 at age 31.
- The Keith Haring Foundation has not commented on the AI completion.
- Haring's works were reportedly used to train Midjourney's AI model, raising copyright issues.
- In 2023, Christie's auctioned five digital drawings Haring made on a Commodore Amiga in 1987 as NFTs.
- The Keith Haring Foundation used Ethereum blockchain to certify the NFTs.
- The incident has sparked debate about AI's role in art and ethical implications.
Entities
Artists
- Keith Haring
Institutions
- Keith Haring Foundation
- Christie's
- Midjourney
- Artribune
Locations
- Seoul
- New York
- United States