Mike Baker installed his exhibit at the Art Spirit Gallery, hoping it would spark community conversations. 

And wow, did it ever. 

"No Permission Needed," featuring pieces created using artificial intelligence, debuted Nov. 14 at the downtown gallery. It quickly became a subject of social media discussion and scrutiny in the arts community and the community at large for the use of AI and female experiences being brought into focus by a male. Some accused Baker of misogyny, art theft, or posing as an artist, while others defended the project's intentions and the exploration of a new technology-based medium. 

"At the end of the day it’s focused on women’s health, all rooted in the work we’ve done around endometriosis and tied to the experiences people have shared with me and that I’ve seen walking through the health care system,” Baker said Thursday. “I was just trying to capture all of that within it." 

The CEO of Heritage Health elaborates on this sentiment in his artist statement. 

"This series isn't mine to own. The power in these portraits belongs to the women who live it. My role is to witness, to amplify and to make sure what they endure and embody cannot be ignored," the statement reads. "I am a man. That matters here. I haven't lived what women live. I haven't carried pain that's questioned, or fear that's politicized. I haven't been told that my voice is too loud, or that my truth makes others uncomfortable. But I've seen it, in the women closest to me and in the stories shared by women across the world." 

Baker's wife, Kellie, and daughter, Sammie, 18, have spent years dealing with endometriosis. This painful condition causes tissue similar to the uterine lining to grow where it shouldn't, such as on the ovaries, fallopian tubes or in the pelvic cavity. 

Baker first experimented with AI portraits more than two years ago, while researching endometriosis, and began creating images to show the strength of women enduring this unseen yet unbearable disease. 

While he was nervous about the exhibit, Kellie said she was excited about getting women's health stories out to the public. 

"A lot of people are mad that it’s not women doing it, but I feel like we need everybody’s voices to help tell that story," she said. "Everyone has to work together to make a change. It’s hard to navigate a system that doesn’t want to believe anything is abnormal in a woman’s body, and that’s what we’ve had to deal with for a very, very long time, and we tell ourselves it’s normal.” 

The message got lost in the medium for many local artists who oppose the use of AI to generate art. Coeur d'Alene tattoo artist Dillion Coma, one of many commenters on social media, said he wouldn't be willing to see the exhibit and that he feels it puts a black mark on Art Spirit's reputation as a credible gallery. 

“I do think Mike has a good message, which makes it a little contradictory by basically impersonating art," Coma said. "He shouldn't try to convey that message in the form of art if he's not creating art and if he's not an artist." 

Although Coma has never tried to have his art in the gallery and doesn't know how many were rejected, he feels that space should not be reserved for AI images. He said he would encourage Baker to share the stories of women's health through the art of the actual women who have had those experiences, rather than generating them himself with AI. 

"The more AI gets used, it gets another stepping stone to take over the art community," Coma said. "It cheapens the industry and the arts." 

Baker began discussions with Art Spirit owner Blair Williams more than a year ago regarding a potential gallery opportunity. 

"He unrolled these images and I recoiled and said, 'What are these?' because I could tell they weren't painted but I didn't understand and I was trying to wrap my head around, 'What is this?'" Williams said. 

When he said he used AI, Williams said her immediate response was, "OK, I'm not there yet. My head isn't where yours is, but I know we need to get there." 

Williams and her gallery manager, Chelsea Cordova, put one of the images up to see how patrons would react. One couple who frequents the Art Spirit shared a favorable comment. When Williams told them it was AI, the woman said she didn't care. 

"It was that very moment that I realized in my own head it's not my job to police what art is and who gets to be a creative," she said. "That's touching somebody, and that's what we do here every day." 

Cordova said artists have concerns about the legitimacy of how images are taken, and that there have been well-known cases in which original works are used as models for AI. 

"It's a lot for anybody to absorb and understand," she said. "I don't think we're overlooking that at all. We're not going, 'We don't care what you thought,' and we did this anyway." 

Baker said it's been a "crazy, awesome, terrible experience to go through." 

"I've never wanted the gallery to get hurt through this," he said. "Everybody's been welcome to the conversation." 

Baker is not profiting off the exhibit, which cost him $4,000 to print the images on metal and canvas. Proceeds from show sales will go back to Heritage Health to support women's health.

Community members can see the exhibit in person and connect with Baker and gallery staff through the close of the show, Dec. 24. Art Spirit, 415 Sherman Ave., will be open for ArtWalk from 5 to 8 p.m. this evening. Baker will be at the gallery from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday. 

    Mike Baker looks over one of his AI-generated portraits on Thursday at the Art Spirit Gallery. "Between Rounds" was inspired by his daughter's bouts with endometriosis.
  

    On Thursday, exhibit creator Mike Baker discusses "The Weight No One Sees," an AI-generated portrait depicting the unseen hardships endured by men, at the Art Spirit Gallery.
  

    Art Spirit owner Blair Williams squeezes Mike Baker's hand Thursday as they discuss the ups and downs that have accompanied his "No Permission Needed" exhibit, which drew backlash for using artificial intelligence to share stories about women's health.
  

    "Flourish" was inspired by one of Mike Baker's friends.