Perceptions of Beginning and Experienced Artists on Canva AI-

Generated Art: A Comparative Study

Camille Kate G. Ramos, Jed Gabrielle L. Cando, Kate Ashley P. Collado, Phenelopie D.
Fajardo, Shiela May B. Jamila, Marsee Czesarianne A. Lumanog, & Danaia A.
Macabasco
Basic Education Department – SHS: Humanities and Social Sciences Strand
University of the East, Caloocan Campus

ABSTRACT

Advances in machine learning (ML) during the last three years have resulted in
the creation of picture generators that, when given natural language instructions, can
consistently produce photos of exceptional quality. This has led to the release of
numerous popular, commercial “AI-generated art” pieces on the market (Jiang et al.,
2023). Consequently, some studies have suggested that generative A-generated art has
some kind of effect on artists. Furthermore, considering the ethical concerns surrounding
the usage of AI-generated art, it might be harmful to artists even though it might be
advantageous to their work. Based on data from earlier studies and analysis, the
researchers designed a mixed study to examine how beginner and experienced artists
perceived Canva AI-generated art.

With 26 respondents, this research found that beginning artists perceive Canva
AI-generated art more favorably than experienced artists. Furthermore, both beginning
and experienced artists agreed that Canva AI-generated art has a lot to offer in terms of
features, like being easy to use, fast, and offering inspiration for creative work. There are
few negatives despite the enormous advantages. Both beginning and experienced
artists recognize its inability to create accurate art or elevate creative quality. Moreover,
experienced artists think it shows less flexibility and optimization than beginning artists.
Researchers have also found that artists' perceptions of themselves are impacted by
Canva AI-generated art in both positive and negative ways. When respondents compare
Canva AI-generated art to their work, they can feel low about themselves. On the other
hand, some discover that the comparison increases their self-assurance in their work.
Some are utilizing the advantages to enhance their artistic output, but others worry that
art produced by Canva AI will eventually replace their work.

Lastly, the study's overall findings indicate that beginning and experienced artists
have differing and comparable perspectives on Canva AI-generated work. Beginning
artists see the platform and its advantages more positively than experienced artists, who
are more wary of and negative of Canva AI-generated work.

Keywords: AI-Generated Art, Beginning Artist, Canva, Experienced Artist

INTRODUCTION

The development of technology made the arts one of the most dynamic sectors,
with a major impact on our history and current affairs. Recently, Artificial Intelligence (AI)
made it possible to make art with a single click; this is known as an AI art generator. AI

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art generators come in many different shapes and names; examples include Midjourney
and Dall-E 2, which employ AI algorithms to create artwork. One site that has taken
advantage of this is Canva. Melanie Perkins, an Australian entrepreneur, founded
Canva, a graphic design tool, in 2012. It uses a drag-and-drop format that both regular
users and designers are likely to be familiar with (Gehred, 2020). Canva is one of the
many educational technology applications that can be utilized. It is an online design
platform that provides a variety of instructional resources, including books, bulletins,
presentations, resumes, flyers, brochures, graphics, infographics, banners, and markers.
It offers a variety of presentation styles, including business, instructional, advertising,
technological, and artistic. Canva is a creative, inventive, interactive, and collaborative
learning tool that makes learning simple and enjoyable (Andarwati, 2024). Since the
necessity of integrating AI tools in educational contexts is growing. Among the readily
available software programs, MS PowerPoint, Canva, and Gamma have been shown to
be effective instruments for producing interesting and educational presentations
(Olatunde-Aiyedun & Hamma, 2023). With this, Canva integrated a new system to their
site, where you can use different types of AI art-generating tools like Dall-E and Imagen
right in their app for free or an upgrade at a cost.
AI has plenty of advantages. It is capable of understanding and analyzing works
of human-made art (Nguyen, 2023). A case study by Parra and Stroud (2023) went into
further detail on how AI-generated art is made, describing how users can utilize the
program model to render graphics from a natural language description. Since the
graphics employ information databases from web servers as a point of reference, they
seem to go on forever. Artistic skills, such as impressionist watercolor painting, can be
studied and applied via DALL-E 2. Practically speaking, its potential is limited by the
creativity of the input sentences. Because of this, even people with less expertise may
now reach this art form more easily. Anyone can produce an excellent work of art with
just a prompt or description.
AI-generated art offers advantages in terms of accessibility, universality, and
efficacy, but it also carries several serious hazards, especially for artists. As stated by
Jiang et al. (2023), AI-generated art has a detrimental effect on artists, resulting in things
like unapproved style copying, the use of their creations for malicious purposes, and
even a reduction in income due to free AI-generated art programs taking precedence
over them. In addition, Flick and Worrall (2022) mentioned further ethical concerns like
deep fakes, dataset bias, and the possibility of copyright infringement. Hence, it caused
other artists to discontinue sharing their work online and to also prohibit AI from using
their art (Ali & Breazeal, 2023).
In this descriptive-comparative research, the researchers bridged the research
gaps present and differentiated the perceptions of beginning artists and experienced
artists on Canva AI-generated art. This study also stated the features of Canva AI-
generated art and how the use of Canva AI-generated art impacts the beginning and
experienced artists in their perception of themselves as artists.

Review of Related Literature and Studies

The Advantages of AI-Generated Art for Artists' Creations. Artificial

intelligence is one example of the growing number of digital platforms that individuals
utilize as a result of advancements in technology. AI has now optimized a production
process that requires both abstract and logical thought processes, enabling faster, less
expensive, and more scalable results (Moura et al., 2023). Hitsuwari et al. (2023)
attested to the quality of these AI outputs, stating that the machines' skills are
comparable to or indistinguishable from human intellectual activity. AI outputs are at par

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with, if not better than, human creations. Assisted further on the advantages of using AI
for artists, a study by Hitsuwari et al. (2023) on the aesthetic evaluation of human-made
and AI-generated haiku poetry found that human-AI collaboration produces better and
more creative results than human-made and AI-generated haiku poetry outputs alone.
The findings of a related academic paper by Moura et al., (2023) matched those of
Hitsuwari's investigation. As per the findings of their study, artistic products that
incorporated co-creation between humans and artificial intelligence were evaluated
positively.
Amanbay (2023) mentioned that AI has progressed to be capable of innovation.
As further explained by Mazzone and Elgammal (2019), artists can train algorithms to
understand aesthetics by analyzing other pictures. Only then does the algorithm produce
new works that match the aesthetics it recognized. Future artistic endeavors will become
more advanced as more artists experiment with AI tools and gain more proficiency in
directing the AI art creation process. Based on what was proven, and supported by
Amanbay’s (2023) study, it is stated that artificial intelligence has the capability to
completely change the field of arts because it is acknowledged as an effective program
that can assist both AI programmers and artists in the process of creating art, even
though AI is not a creator of art itself. This was more affirmed by Audry and Ippolito in
2019, they concluded that these days, it doesn't matter if a piece of art was created by a
human artist directly or by some other kind of procedure. There are several examples of
accidental constructions, chance discoveries, random processes, and artifacts trouvés in
recent art history.

Concerns of AI-Generated Art. Todorov (2019) argued that plagiarism is a

tricky issue with AI art because the problem for AI art is not because they can be
obtained as a geometric transformation of other paintings but for the reason they are
precisely the way it is created, plagiarism can be also defined as an algorithm that
perfectly memorized and reproduces a training set or does not deteriorate copyrighted
input.
In the last three years, picture generators based on Machine Learning (ML) have
grown more capable of generating images with continuous higher quality when given
natural language cues as inputs. As a result, the industry has seen the release of
several well-known advertisements, including generative AI art. Professional artists have
been outspoken about the harm that has come to them as a result of the extensive use
of online image/text pairings for teaching purposes. Professional artists are in danger of
financial loss, damage to their reputation, plagiarism, and infringement of intellectual
property (Jiang et al., 2023).
Flick and Worrall (2022) contended that artificial intelligence approaches in
creative pursuits have been expanding at a rate commensurate with the advancements
in usage and production. Along with the ethical and social impact of AI techniques more
broadly, Creative methods have raised interesting and problematic ethical issues, such
as the emergence of deep fakes, the bias of datasets, and the potential for copyright and
authorship issues; however, Creative AI has shown some highly beneficial impacts for
society, not only the art itself but some applications that can significantly improve
people's lives and agitate for beneficial societal, environmental and political change.

Artists’ Positive and Negative Perception Towards AI-Generated Art. The

perception and interpretation of art often varied from individual to individual, and thus it
was regarded as subjective. The subjectivity of art enabled artists to convey their unique
perspectives and emotions through their work.

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 The utilization of AI in the creation of art has transformed both the tools and
materials used, as well as the thought processes and creative concepts employed by
artists (Liu, 2020). Furthermore, In 2023, Latikka et al. discussed that there are various
aspects of using AI-generated art that do not necessarily pose a threat to human
creativity but rather enhance it. It is evident that some artists used AI-generated art as
an enhancing tool that assisted artists in their creative process. AI can examine large
volumes of data and produce new perspectives that humans may not have been able to
discover, which can result in new forms of artistic expression (Yusa et al., 2022). As
such, it is found that artists used AI to open up new horizons for creative expression.
There are positive perceptions towards AI-generated art as supported by a 2022
research by Yusa et al. They mentioned in an earlier paragraph that some artists
enhanced their work with AI-generated imagery to help with the creative process. AI has
the capacity to analyze massive amounts of data and generate fresh viewpoints that
people might not have been able to find, which could lead to the creation of novel artistic
mediums. In contrast, there have been studies that oppose this. Paintings that are
thought to have been created by humans are valued substantially higher than those
thought to have been created by artificial intelligence. As a result, the results
demonstrate a bias in favor of human systems and a negative opinion of AI, utilizing an
unusual approach and sample (Ragot et al., 2020). Moreover, a similar finding by Ragot
et al. (2020) was mentioned again in another study by Hong and Curran in 2019, they
deducted that it is reasonable to assume that the differences result from human-made vs
AI-generated because the respondents rated human-made artworks being higher in
composition.

Impact of AI-generated art on respondents' self-perceptions as artists. Even

more surprisingly, AI may be taught to produce unexpected results. Its program can
include rules that alter the rules themselves, potentially producing a transformative
impact, though few artists have actually managed to achieve this. Since not all human
artists create ground-breaking works, AI creativity is not inherently invalidated by works
lacking transformational qualities (Lee, 2022). Furthermore, artists believe that despite
using AI-generated art it does not fully destroy their artistic identity due to the fact that
creativity in AI-generated art cannot be invalidated.
Due to the fact that plagiarism concerns are present in AI-generated art (Jiang et
al., 2023), this was even more discussed by a 2022 research by Flick and Worrall in
which they stated that the development of deep fakes, the bias in datasets, and the
possibility of copyright and authorship issues are just a few of the intriguing and troubling
ethical issues that creative methods have brought to light. Nevertheless, Creative AI has
demonstrated some extremely positive effects on society, including applications that can
greatly enhance people's lives and spur positive social, environmental, and political
change. Using or accepting AI-generated art for artists can pose a challenge to their
perceptions. Furthermore, an interviewee in a paper by Stark and Crawford in 2019
suggested that they believe that artists sometimes have an obligation to simply do the
thing, even if it is extremely problematic, but to do it within that framework of creativity
and criticism. To further improve technology and its effectiveness, artists must be able to
accept this change in the art scene.

Theoretical Framework
This research was supported by the theory of Actor-network theory (ANT). This
theory shows how humans and non-humans are related, and how they interact may
have an impact on that relationship. It was mentioned in Aka and Labelle (2021) study

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that “a network of actors or ‘actants’ comprises human and non-human constituents,
which influence the process and the nature of any artifact, such as innovation” (p. 7).

Figure 1.1 Theoretical Framework

By using ANT, the researchers may view organizations as networks composed of

both human and nonhuman agents in the workplace. Given that human actors are those
who work together to achieve organizational goals, it can recognize them with ease. But
none of this would be possible without nonhuman agents like coffee makers, computers,
software, and office buildings. An organization's outcomes are the consequence of the
interactions between these elements. One way to conceptualize processes is as
patterns of interaction. This network has a vast array of hybrids between humans and
tools. Even if this has always been the case, the hybrid idea is now more beneficial due
to the accessibility of AI.

Objectives of the Study

This study sought to ascertain how Canva AI-generated art impacts beginner and
experienced artists differently. The following are questions to obtain answers in this
study:

1. How do beginning and experienced artists perceive Canva AI-generated art?

2. What are the features of Canva AI-generated art?
2.1. Advantages
2.2. Disadvantages
3. How does the use of Canva AI-generated art impact the respondents’ perception
of themselves as artists?

Significance of the Study

This study aimed to find out the perceptions of experienced artists and beginning
artists about the usage of Canva AI-generation in art. The following sectors will benefit
from the study:

Beginning Artists. The results will enable them to see from different
perspectives. The information presented will guide them throughout their art journey,
teaching new techniques and inspiring them at all experience levels.

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 Experienced Artists. The outcome of the study will demonstrate various
perspectives on using AI-generated art in art, allowing them to evaluate their own
experience and artistic skills in making a piece of art.

Students. The study's findings will benefit students who want to learn and
understand artists' perceptions of AI-generated art.

Teachers. Instructors can utilize this article to help their students understand the
benefits and drawbacks of using AI-generated art.

Future Researchers. Future researchers who intend to conduct a study on this

topic can benefit greatly from this information source. It can serve as a basis for their
research, enabling them to lay a strong foundation for their research.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

This study was conducted at the University of the East Caloocan during the
second semester of the school year 2023-2024.
The goal of this research was to understand the benefits and drawbacks of
Canva AI-generated art for beginning and experienced artists. This paper also explained
how beginning and experienced artists perceive AI-generated art and how it affects
them. One of the challenges researchers faced during this study was a shortage of
relevant information related to our issue. Also, due to time shortage, the researchers had
difficulty approaching participants. Another challenge for this study is the difficulty in
obtaining respondents since this research attempted to choose those who are educated
in AI-generated art. At last, the researchers had a difficult time earning a certain amount
of respondents because of the lack of willingness to participate in our data-gathering
procedure.

METHODOLOGY

Research Design
This research employed a Descriptive - Comparative research design.
Comparative research is a type of qualitative approach or analysis where researchers
employ various techniques, such as case study analysis, to clarify the similarities and
contrasts between entities (Miri & Shahrokh, 2019). In this case, the entities this
research put contrasts and similarities to were the perceptions of beginning and
experienced artists on Canva Artificial Generated Art.

Sample and Population

With 60 overall respondents containing 30 beginning artists and 30 experienced
artists, snowball sampling was used for this research. Beginning artists were chosen
from UE Caloocan students through referrals from our peers, while experienced artists
were selected upon referrals from a professional art teacher. The selection of
participation was based on the inclusion criteria for beginner and experienced artists.
The participant must be at the age of 14 or above while also fitting in these criteria. A
beginning artist is someone who has only been creating art for five years or less, is not
employed in the field, and views art as a hobby. An experienced artist should have ten or
more years of experience, have worked in the field for more than five years, and have

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been acknowledged by their peers as professional artists. Furthermore, both beginner
and experienced artists need to be familiar with or have utilized Canva AI-generated art.

Data Gathering Tools

The researchers conducted a survey and a written interview. A questionnaire
was created that captures all the essential information and written interviews were used
to get responses to open-ended questions from the respondents. Additionally, The
researchers drafted a research instrument adapted from studies by Liao and Ji (2023),
Latikka, et al. (2023), and Barbour (2006). Furthermore, the research instrument had the
following: A survey questionnaire using a yes and no method, a scale method, and a
written interview. To ensure the accuracy and reliability of the questionnaire, it was
validated by the questionnaire validator.

Data Gathering Procedure

To prepare for the survey and written interview, the researchers drafted a
research instrument that was adapted from another research study. The guide was
designed to encourage open-ended discussion, allowing participants to freely share their
thoughts, feelings, and experiences related to the topic of interest. To ensure the validity
of the questionnaire guide, a copy was given to the validator for validation. The final
survey was then distributed to the participants by the researchers. A consent or assent
letter was then sent to the participants who volunteered to be a part of the study. Once
the participants agreed, the survey questionnaire with a written interview question was
given via Google form. After the survey and written interview, the researchers
transcribed the answers of the respondents as soon as the data had been gathered.

Data Analysis
The research utilized a thematic analysis to analyze data collected from beginner
and experienced artists. The respondents are interviewed and surveyed to be able to
comply with the study's data requirements. Both artists were assessed in relation to the
study's objectives. Furthermore, the researchers used thematic analysis to methodically
organize and analyze large, complicated data sets. Then is an exploration of themes that
can encapsulate the stories found within the data sets' accounts. Finally, the researchers
identified the themes by closely examining and reexamining the transcribed material
(Dawadi, 2021).

Ethical Consideration
The researchers submitted this paper to the Ethical Review Committee of the
Basic Education Department - Caloocan for appropriate ethical review. The main
objective of the study was relayed and explained to the respondents, and their
anonymity was guaranteed. Responses were treated with utmost confidentiality and
appropriated for this research only. Data will be destroyed after 1 year. Participation of
the respondents was voluntary. Those who willingly participated were requested to
submit an informed consent form. However, those who wished to withdraw their
participation even after signing the consent form will be permitted to do so at any time, in
which case their data were either destroyed or returned to them.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This section discussed the themes found during the data gathering and analysis
phase of the research through the survey questionnaire and written interview of the

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volunteer participants, who are 13 beginning artists and 13 experienced artists for a total
of 26 between the ages of 17 and 33. The researchers aim to provide data and analysis
to answer the problem of the paper. The themes below accentuate the comparison of
the perception of beginning and experienced artists on Canva AI-generated art.

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Perceptions of Beginning and Experienced artist of Canva AI-generated Art

Table 1.1 Analysis of beginning artist respondents’ perceptions

Item Weighted SD Interpretation
Mean

I feel positive that AI-generated art detects my favourite visual art 2.23 0.17 Agree

I feel positive that AI-generated art forecasts the evolution of my preferred visual art 2.15 0.17 Agree

I feel positive that AI-generated art recommends visual art according to my taste 2.23 0.17 Agree

I feel positive that AI-generated art selects visual art according to my taste 2.30 0.18 Agree

I feel positive that AI-generated art in the future, detects copied art 3.15 0.24 Strongly
Agree

I feel positive that AI-generated art in the future, detect forged art 2.92 0.22 Agree

I feel positive that AI-generated art in the future, create art independently 2.38 0.18 Agree

I feel positive that AI-generated art in the future, create art together with a human 2.84 0.22 Agree

Table 1.2 Analysis of experienced artist respondents’ perceptions

Item Weighted SD Interpretation
Mean

I feel positive that AI-generated art detects my favourite visual art 1.84 0.14 Disagree

I feel positive that AI-generated art forecasts the evolution of my preferred visual art 2.00 0.15 Agree

I feel positive that AI-generated art recommends visual art according to my taste 2.00 0.15 Agree

I feel positive that AI-generated art selects visual art according to my taste 2.23 0.17 Agree

I feel positive that AI-generated art in the future, detects copied art 2.76 0.21 Agree

I feel positive that AI-generated art in the future, detect forged art 2.38 0.18 Agree

I feel positive that AI-generated art in the future, create art independently 2.00 0.15 Agree

I feel positive that AI-generated art in the future, create art together with a human 2.53 0.20 Agree

Tables 1.1 and 1.2 show the similarities and differences beginning and
experienced artists perceive Canva AI-generated art. The items are statements on how
much they think of Canva AI-generated art positively. Strongly Agree and agree means
that they are positive while Disagree and Strongly Disagree means they perceive Canva
AI-generated art negatively. Data shows that Canva AI-generated art is perceived as
positive by most of the respondents even going as much as 3.15 for the weighted mean.
Both beginning and experienced artists perceive Canva AI-generated art positively in
ways that it forecasts the evolution of their preferred visual art, recommends visual art
according to their tastes, selects visual art according to their tastes, detects forged art,
creates art independently, and creates art together with a human. Their differences are
that experienced artists disagree that Canva AI-generated art detects their favorite visual
art. This data is supported by the statement of Latikka et al. (2023) that there are a
number of applications for AI-generated art that actually foster human creativity rather
than undermine it.

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Comparison of Positive Perception of Canva AI-generated Art

Table 2.1 Total weighted mean perception of beginning artist

Item Weighted Mean SD Interpretation

General Weighted Mean 2.52 0.19 Agree

Table 2.2 Total weighted mean perception of experienced artist

Item Weighted Mean SD Interpretation

General Weighted Mean 2.22 0.17 Agree

As seen in Tables 2.1 and 2.2, the beginning artist respondents showed slightly
more positive perceptions about Canva-AI-generated art with a general weighted mean
of 2.52, a standard deviation of 0.19, and the majority of their interpretations agreed. In
Table 1.1, the results showed that beginning artists strongly agreed about AI-generated
art detecting copied art in the future. Whereas the experienced artist respondents only
showed a general weighted mean of 2.22, and a standard deviation of 0.17, the majority
of their interpretations also agreed. However, in Table 1.2, the results showed that
experienced artists disagree with AI-generated art detecting their favourite visual art.

Features of Canva AI-generated Art

Table 3.1 Analysis of beginning artists’ on the Advantages of Canva AI-generated art
Item Frequency Percentage

YES NO YES NO

Improve design efficiency 7 6 53.85% 46.15%

Exhibit sophisticated and highly customizable output 6 7 46.15% 53.85%

Obtain design materials 7 6 53.85% 46.15%

Improve creative quality 4 9 30.77% 69.23%

Optimise design solutions 9 4 69.23% 30.77%

Display user-friendly and easy to grasp 10 3 76.92% 23.08%

Exhibit a wide range of freedom and optimization of the output result 8 5 61.54% 38.46%

Expand design styles 8 5 61.54% 38.46%

Display accurate in generation and meet expectations 4 9 30.77% 69.23%

Have a fast response speed 10 3 76.92% 23.08%

Provide creative Inspiration 9 4 69.23% 30.77%

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Table 3.2 Analysis of experienced artists’ on the advantages of the Canva AI-generated
art
Item Frequency Percentage

YES NO YES NO

Improve design efficiency 5 8 38.46% 61.54%

Exhibit sophisticated and highly customizable output 3 10 23.08% 76.92%

Obtain design materials 6 7 46.15% 53.85%

Improve creative quality 5 8 38.46% 61.54%

Optimise design solutions 6 7 46.15% 53.85%

Display user-friendly and easy to grasp 9 4 69.23% 30.77%

Exhibit a wide range of freedom and optimization of the output result 3 10 23.08% 76.92%

Expand design styles 7 6 53.85% 46.15%

Display accurate in generation and meet expectations 1 12 7.69% 92.31%

Have a fast response speed 9 4 69.23% 30.77%

Provide creative Inspiration 9 4 69.23% 30.77%

Tables 3.1 and 3.2 show that, according to 76% of beginner artists and 69% of
professional artists, using Canva AI is straightforward and easy to use. In addition, both
beginning and skilled artists agreed that Canva AI has a quick response time and offers
ample creative inspiration for their artistic output. Both of these types of artists have also
disagreed with AI's qualities, such as its inability to generate art with accuracy or to
elevate creative quality. And even while they do agree on many aspects, they differ
greatly from one another. While 61% of beginner artists claimed that it displays a great
deal of freedom and optimization, 76% of experienced artists disagreed. This is further
supported by Moura et al., (2023) and Hitsuwari et al. (2023) when they found that AI
has now improved a production process that calls for both logical and abstract thought
processes, allowing for faster, cheaper, and more scalable results. Additionally, the
abilities of the machines are on par with or identical to those of human intellect. AI
products are on par with, if not superior to, those made by humans.

Comparison of Perception on Canva AI-generated Art Features Between

Beginning and Experienced Artists

Table 4.1 Total frequency features of beginning artists

Item Frequency Percentage

YES NO YES NO

Beginning 82 61 57.34% 42.66%

Table 4.2 Total frequency features of experienced artists

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 Item Frequency Percentage

YES NO YES NO

Experienced 63 80 44.06% 55.94%

In the observation of Table 4.1, it was found that beginning artists agreed with
the advantageous features of Canva AI-generated art with a total frequency of 82 and a
total percentage of 57.34%, whereas, a total frequency of 61 and a total percentage of
42.66% disagreed. On the other hand, the researchers found that in Table 4.2,
experienced artists mostly disagreed with a total frequency of 80 and a total percentage
of 55.94% compared to beginning artists; thus, a total frequency of 63 and a total
percentage of 44.06% agreed. To conclude based on this data, it showed that beginning
artists perceived more advantages to the features of Canva AI-generated art than
experienced artists who believed that Canva’s AI-generated art brought more
disadvantages to them.

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Impact of Canva AI-generated Art to Artist Self-Perception

Table 5.1 Analysis of beginning artists self-perception

Emerging Code Frequency Percentage Sample Sentences
Themes

Impact on Low self- 3 23.08% Yes, even though AI art can be used wisely, it feels
artists’ self- esteem degrading knowing that a simple sentence put onto a
perception software can easily replicate an artstyle that many
hours (that artists placed) are devoted into.

Self-assured 2 15.38% Despite knowing that some AI-generated art posts are
racking up in likes and posts I still value my self worth as
an artist who works hard and still be proud of my
artwork despite the few engagements it may get.

Anxious 3 23.08% AI-generated art has had an impact on my self-perception

as an artist, as it suggests that in the next few months
or years, being an artist may no longer be a viable
profession.

AI as a tool for Inspiration 3 23.08% The use of AI-generated art might prompt
Artists introspection about their own creative process and the
role of technology in art. It could inspire them to explore
new techniques or push boundaries.

Reference 2 15.38% While AI art can be used if only as a reference in

creating one's art, if one is using it as a way on creating
art, then they are not an artist as to create art, one must be
imaginative, and it takes hard work in creating one.

Table 5.2 Analysis of experienced artists self-perception

Emerging Code Frequency Percentage Sample Sentences
Theme

Impact on Low self- 6 46.15% It impacts me negatively as an artist, The widespread use
artists’ self- esteem of AI generated “art”undermines the hardwork and practice
perception real artists have placed into their art. I feel discouraged
from working and creating art due to the soulless
efficiency of AI generated “art”. It creates a self
perception of worthlessness regarding the art I create if I
think too deeply about AI “art”.

Self-assured 2 15.38% No, it doesn't. I still think that my own ability as an artist
has its own understanding, creativity, and style that AI
generated art doesn't have

AI as an tool Inspiration 2 15.38% It gives a vast knowledge of ideas and inspiration on

for Artists making your own art. I only base it as a reference (terms
of its color theory, structure of the body, coherency of
multiple objects, and etc.) in order to improve my creativity
and drawing skills.

Reference 1 7.69% Found it easier to look for references using AI

Generation.

AI reflect as Plagiarism 2 15.38% Yes. Typing a prompt and making an image isn't
an plagiarism “making an art” AI art can be deceiving and used for
malicious way even if there are pros.

Tables 5.1 and 5.2 present data regarding the various ways in which beginning

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and experienced artists' perceptions of themselves were influenced by Canva AI-
generated art. The researchers discovered that both beginning and experienced artists
had nearly identical themes and codes established in their responses, based on the
answers that were provided by the respondents. Canva AI-generated art caused low
self-esteem in both respondents, with beginning respondents reporting a percentage of
23.08% and experienced respondents reporting a percentage of 46.15%. An artist would
need hours to create the same piece of art that Canva's AI-generated art can create with
ease, referring to one respondent.
On the other hand, even though some respondents felt Canva AI had a negative
effect, others felt even more confident as a result. 15.38% of the two respondents said
that they feel more secure as a result of the Canva AI-generated art. Furthermore, in
order to increase their use of Canva AI-generated art, both respondents used it as a
source of inspiration and guidance. Because each respondent found a different theme
and set of codes, the data's similarities end here. The fear of being replaced by Canva
AI-generated art accounts for 23.08% of the anxiety experienced by beginning artists.
Moreover, according to 15.38% of seasoned artists, users of Canva AI-generated art
may use it for nefarious purposes like plagiarism.
These findings demonstrate that Canva AI-generated art has a distinct impact on
artists' perceptions of themselves, both positively and negatively. Some experience fear
and a decline in self-worth, while others gain confidence in their abilities and even learn
how to take advantage of Canva AI-generated art. Similar findings were observed in a
study conducted in 2023 by Ali and Breazeal, in which they analyzed various self-
perceptions held by artists. They discovered that both positive and negative effects on
the artists' self-perceptions were caused by AI-generated art.

Conclusion
The research team came to a conclusion about how artists felt about Canva AI-
generated art based on the answers to our survey and written interviews with beginning
and experienced artists. The following are the main conclusions reached by our team
based on the primary questions posed in the problem statement:
Based on the data analysis, the researchers come to the conclusion that
beginning artists have a more positive perception of Canva AI-generated art than
experienced artists. In addition, both beginning and experienced artists concurred that
Canva AI-generated art offers many benefits in terms of features, such as being user-
friendly, responding quickly, and providing ample creative inspiration for their artistic
output. Moreover, novice artists believe that Canva AI-generated art exhibits a great deal
of flexibility and efficiency. Even though the benefits are immense, there are a small
number of drawbacks. Its incapacity to produce accurate art or to elevate creative quality
is acknowledged by both beginning and experienced artists. Furthermore, experienced
artists believe that it does not exhibit as much freedom and optimization as beginning
artists do. Researchers have discovered that Canva AI-generated art has both positive
and negative effects on artists' self-perceptions. In certain instances, respondents
experience low self-esteem as a result of comparing their own work to Canva AI-
generated art's time efficiency. Some, however, find that the comparison gives them
greater confidence in their work. While some are using the benefits to improve their
creative output, others are fearful that Canva AI-generated art will take over.
Overall, this study has discovered that perceptions of Canva AI-generated art are
similar and different among beginning and experienced artists. While experienced artists
are more cautious and unfavorable toward Canva AI-generated art, beginning artists
view the platform and its benefits more favorably.

14
Recommendation
Throughout the course of the investigation, the researchers ran across a number
of difficulties. As a result, the researchers offer the following recommendations to
upcoming researchers in an effort to improve the quality of their work and the
procedures used in the study:

1. The researchers encountered difficulty in managing the time in conducting the

study. Thus, the researchers suggest that future researchers give more time and
attention to conducting the study.
2. The researchers propose to give more depth and analysis to the answers of the
participants to further understand the perception of the participants. The
researchers suggest that analyzing and examining the given answers of the
participants should be given more time and consideration to further comprehend
the study.
3. The researchers recommend putting longer time into the data gathering to have
more respondents.
4. The researchers recommend using the triangulation method to have more secure
data for future research, specifically an art expert to interview for the focus group
discussion.

Institutional Acknowledgment
The researchers express their sincerest gratitude to Mr. Roger Christopher R.
Reyes, Mrs. Bricilda B. Guevarra, and Ms. Liezelle Charmaine C. Padilla for their
support and guidance in accomplishing this study. The researchers likewise
acknowledge the Basic Education Department - Caloocan for assisting their queries. The
assistance, both moral and financial, extended by classmates, teachers, and family
members during the various stages of this endeavor is highly appreciated.

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