You start watching an Irish dance video. It begins normally, but then you notice something looks a bit off. Out of nowhere, she contorts her body into a backbend and flaps her arms. Then, you notice her ghillies have heels. You continue scrolling, and you see a picture of a cartoon Irish dancer, and something’s not right. You keep looking at the picture and noticing little oddities: the knotwork disconnected in certain parts, the dress that looks like a mashup of styles from 15 years ago, plus random shamrocks that seem to exist for no reason other than to signify “Irish”. Surely, this wasn’t made by an Irish dancer? Except it was. Welcome to AI Irish dance.
A few years ago, when the likes of artificial intelligence chatbots like ChatGPT were new, many involved in Irish dance (myself included) had fun with it. We played around with prompts and laughed at the absurdity of the designs, how badly it misinterpreted Irish dance. Over the past few years, however, there has been more awareness around ethical concerns regarding AI, including training models on real artists’ work without credit, and the environmental impact of the massive amounts of water required to run data centres. As a result, many have stopped experimenting with nonsensical picture prompts. Irish dance, however, seems to have gone in the opposite direction, openly embracing AI designs despite knowing they are inaccurate.
Though those who use it don’t have bad intentions and are likely just trying to save some time, the end result is reducing Irish dance to gimmicky cliches. AI flyers and advertisements have been plaguing Irish dance businesses in recent months. From feiseanna and dance schools to apps and even dress designs, those dreaded ghillies with heels keep appearing, along with dancers posed in positions that aren’t Irish dance, such as kicks to the side resembling ballet. These advertisements are not accurate.
For Irish dancers, they often have the opposite effect, with many seeing obvious AI-generated ads as a sign that the business or feis cannot be trusted. If they can’t even take the time to correct blatant inaccuracies, how can we know they’re putting effort into their product or services?
But the issue with AI-generated depictions of Irish dance extends beyond the Irish dance world. Now, pages solely dedicated to producing AI videos have used videos of actual Irish dancers without crediting them. One that many Irish dancers recognise is six-time world champion Lochlan Howard’s viral hornpipe step. The music and footwork are the same, except an AI character replaces his face and body. Anyone who sees it knows that hornpipe. While these copied videos go viral, the intricate footwork of a multi-time world champion becomes a spectacle for mockery by the non-Irish dance world. AI is rapidly generating multiple versions of this hornpipe that the actual dancer spent years and countless hours mastering.
“The intricate footwork of a multi-time world champion becomes a spectacle for mockery by the non-Irish dance world”
Even Dan Crookes (AKA @mysta.crooks), the online commentator known for his coining of the term “whimsical skedaddling”, posted that Lochlan should get the credit, noting that a blatant copy lacks the whimsy of an actual dancer.
Additionally, it is now even creating problems for dress designers due to plagiarised designs. In a post by Ave Celtic, the team pointed out that AI can only reimagine existing ideas, making it easy to plagiarise. Dressmakers and designers are artists just as dancers are. They spend years mastering the skills and creative process required. We also don’t need AI to create designs for us. Innovative dress designs have been doing this for years before AI existed. If you’ve been around long enough, you may have seen the first non-three-panel skirt, the transition to dropped waistlines, the first white straps on hard shoes, and the addition of ‘Vanishing Lake’ as a set dance, among other innovations. All of these happened because of the hard work and creativity of real people.
When you create Irish dance from a computer prompt, you lose the art. The beauty and joy of Irish dance is in the combination of tradition, athleticism, creativity, and hard work. It is a great disrespect to Irish dance to voluntarily portray it inaccurately in these AI-generated images and videos. We are taking away all the fun and creativity that comes with the process of creating.
Irish dance could use more authenticity. I think many of us would much prefer a simple but accurate human-made design over an ornately detailed caricature that only vaguely resembles Irish dance.
“When you create Irish dance from a computer prompt, you lose the art”
As a retired Irish dancer myself who got into photo editing and dress designing for fun a few years back, I can confidently say that the fun is in the process. I enjoy experimenting and playing around with edits to see what happens. I love spending an evening after a busy day at work experimenting with new moves in the studio. These feelings can’t be replicated by a machine. As Irish dancers, we know the value of hard work and dedication to our craft; let’s not outsource our creativity.
