When AI Started Drawing Better Than Your Art School Friend

Remember when your biggest worry about AI was whether Siri would understand your mumbled grocery list? Well, 2022 decided to throw us a curveball with DALL-E 2 and Midjourney crashing the art party like uninvited guests who somehow became the life of it. Suddenly, typing "a cat wearing a tuxedo riding a unicorn through a rainbow" would generate something that looked like it belonged in the Louvre – or at least your Instagram feed.

The art world went through the five stages of grief faster than a coffee shop WiFi password changes. First came denial: "It's just fancy copy-paste!" Then anger: "This isn't real art!" Bargaining followed: "Maybe it can help with rough sketches..." Depression hit when artists realized AI could generate their entire portfolio in the time it takes to sharpen a pencil. But acceptance? That came when smart artists figured out they could use these tools to bring their wildest ideas to life, turning AI from competitor to collaborator.

The real kicker? While we were all amazed that AI could draw a decent sunset, it was also quietly getting really good at writing, coding, and probably judging our Netflix choices. It's like discovering your roommate who you thought only ate cereal is actually a master chef, therapist, and rocket scientist rolled into one. The age of "creative AI" had officially begun, and our expectations of what machines could do went from "please don't crash" to "please paint me like one of your French girls, but make it cyberpunk."