Generative AI and the revival of creative imitation in the visual arts

Generative AI does not create new images out of thin air; it generates images that have some visual features in common with a selection of images we have used to train the system.  In the past, these common visual features used to be called a style. As the rise of Generative AI is bringing the practice of stylistic imitation back to our design schools and to the design professions, we urgently need to learn again what imitation is, how it works, and how we can deal with it today, in critical and creative terms.