For Samantha Mary Beiko, it’s a typewriter.

For Alex Plante, it’s a sign: a faux parking sign with letters whited out, “No AI Anytime” glaring in red.

The Manitoba artisans bring the objects to markets, placing them at booths near books and prints they’ve created.

“I invite everyone to come touch the typewriter and press the keys,” Beiko said. “Remember that art is a physical thing that we do with our bodies.”

She feels it’s a necessary reminder. As artificial intelligence-generated words, videos and images populate the internet, Manitoba artists are feeling the impact.

Some, like Plante, have seen fewer commission jobs. Others — including Beiko — have had their work scraped for databases used to train AI.

There’s no hard data showing the impact of generative AI on local artists and

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