‘Keep human culture alive’: Halifax music venue bans AI-generated event posters

Gus’ Pub has drawn a line around the artwork on its walls: event posters created by artificial intelligence will no longer be welcome at the Halifax music venue.

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It just reflects our values as musicians and as the pub. This place is very artist-run, artist-centric.

The pub’s north-end walls have long carried posters made by local graphic designers, extending its support for artists beyond the music performed onstage. When AI-generated show fliers began appearing, staff decided to reject them. “It just reflects our values as musicians and as the pub. This place is very artist-run, artist-centric,” said TJ Ploughman, a bartender and musician at Gus’ Pub.

The venue recently announced the policy on Instagram. Performers who submit an AI poster for a booking will instead receive a “No Name” template, created as a parody of the Loblaws brand. The pub also says it will help performers find another solution. “We will give them resources. Sometimes even the manager, CJ, is very good at just whipping up a poster for somebody,” Ploughman said. “It’s either do it yourself or get someone artistic to do it for you.”

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We will give them resources. Sometimes even the manager, CJ, is very good at just whipping up a poster for somebody.

The announcement generated thousands of online responses and won praise from Halifax artist Gabriela Warlet. “There’s no soul in art created by AI because it looks all the same,” she said. Warlet, who works as a musician and graphic designer, said she began losing commissions as AI became more common, although she has received more design inquiries since Gus’ Pub took its stand.

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There’s no soul in art created by AI because it looks all the same.

Therese Cruz, executive director of Visual Arts Nova Scotia, said AI adoption in artistic and commercial spaces concerns many visual artists. “It really does devalue the artist in so many ways,” Cruz said. Jenna Faye Powell, interim executive director of CARFAC, also said supporting local artists has become especially important, although the provided text ends before her comments are completed.

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It really does devalue the artist in so many ways.