Alyssa VanPelt-Cathcart, Arts Editor
On September 5th, the Hunt Union Instagram posted a reminder for the poster sale. The poster sale is an event they have been holding every semester for students to get additional decorations for their dorm. In their January 2025 reminder post, it looks to be done through a program like Canva, or another graphic design application as it is relatively simplistic. Blue background, funky fonts in a fun red, and a small collage of some posters that may be present at the sale. However, just like with the Red the Dragon AI post, Hunt Union resorted to doing the same.
In their September post, it starts with classic graphic design, “Last Day! Poster Sale Ends Today.” However, the image featured in the post is one generated by AI. The distorted imitations of iconic posters such as Star Wars, Pink Floyd, and various others line the background. Five “students” are present within the image with almost a photographic quality trying to portray real people. However, the disproportionately in their hands, their faces being cramped or smudged, and repetition in face or clothing gave away their inhuman qualities.
The comments on the post does not spare Hunt Union. A commentor, @angel_r0ses123 wrote, “So…ai… with all the art majors.” Another commentor, @_._nonexistent_._ commented, “You literally could’ve taken an actual picture of the poster fair and you decided to do this….” Over forty comments were echoing the same sentiment.
Within twenty-four hours of the original post, Hunt Union posted again. A black background with white text that said, “We hear you! Less Alfred Ignatius.” However, this silly, coded “apology” only fueled the frustration of students more. One commenter, @felixbuellersdayoff said, “Less?? How about NO A.I. How about you cut the jokes to downplay it after we have demanded you to stop SEVERAL times. You should be ashamed of yourselves.” Another commentor, @chaos_xs posted, “Please take this seriously. This post makes people feel like you will not be taking our words to heart. Stop using Artificial Intelligence.”
Sean Eaves (Senior, BFA Photography) is extremely involved with the arts department at SUNY Oneonta. According to him, he is always in the Fine Arts building, especially working for the gallery among the faculty. Outside of SUNY, he is involved with CANO and other artistic businesses. Eaves does not have a problem with A.I. if it is used the right way. An example he gave was Grammarly to help proof-read your paper, especially if you do not have someone around to help you. However, having it write your paper is not acceptable. This extends to art.
He first remembers when the college used A.I. in another post featuring Red the Dragon in an action figure box in Spring 2025. This was to imitate a trend going around on the internet at the time. However, just like with the poster sale, this received heavy backlash, especially being posted by the official SUNY Oneonta Instagram account. Eaves commented on the Red post, expressing his disgust and how there are many capable students who would have been willing to create a version of this trend for the college. He paraphrased his comment, “Even though people may be weighed down by a lot of their finals, a lot of people are also really willing to put themselves out there, especially for publishing.” He notes that they didn’t even give the opportunity to the students at all, they opted for something quick and easy: A.I.
With the understanding that people would gravitate towards something “quick and easy,” Eaves does think SUNY Oneonta, as an institution, needs to hold itself to a higher standard. He says, “You’re an institution and you really do pride yourself on the art department that we have. I mean, we’re really lucky as a SUNY to have a BFA and I feel like this really does it a lot of injustice that they didn’t allow an art student to do it.” Eaves continues to explain how it takes away opportunities such as for experience or networking from art students.
Sean Eaves concludes with an insightful hope for SUNY Oneonta, “Just because somebody else is doing something, doesn’t mean you have to do it. Setting a standard, I feel like, is something that we are in the position of doing and yet we aren’t doing that. I feel like we could be the ones that stand by not using [A.I.] and using our art department to the fullest of capabilities.”
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