AI vs. Human Paintings? Deciphering Public Interactions and Perceptions Towards AI-Generated Paintings on TikTok

With the rise of generative AI, AI-generated paintings (AIGP) have gone viral on platforms like TikTok, but also sparked controversy. In 2022, global artists protested against AI models for infringing on their works during training, highlighting overlooked public concerns. Therefore, to investigate public interactions and perceptions towards AIGP on social media, we analyzed user engagement level and comment sentiment scores of AIGP using human painting videos as a baseline. In analyzing user engagement, we also considered the possible moderating effect of the aesthetic quality of Paintings. Topic modeling revealed seven key reasons for negative perceptions, such as hyperrealistic effects, ambivalent reactions, and perceived art theft. Our work may provide instructive suggestions for future generative AI technology development and avoid potential crises in human-AI collaboration. © 2025 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.