AI Alteration of Keith Haring’s ‘Unfinished Painting’ About the AIDS Crisis Sparks Social Media Outrage

In a bid to get sympathetic responses, artist Brooke Peachley posted an image of Keith Haring's provocative piece named "Unfinished Painting" on X, formerly known as Twitter.

However, she probably didn't anticipate that it would soon devolve into a controversial thread filled with "trolling" and anger.

Peachley originally solicited names of other paintings or artworks that "never fail to [emotionally] destroy" people through the caption of her post, sharing Haring's piece as the precedent under this criteria.

Indeed, the painting itself had quite a sad background, especially because the renowned American artist made it a commentary on how the AIDS crisis negatively influenced the lives of many individuals diagnosed with it from the '80s to the '90s.

The post has currently received over 434.8 million views and around 3,600 comments, with a lot of users giving suggestions like Lynda Barry's four-panel comic and Félix González-Torres' "Untitled" piece, which is similarly about AIDS.

Unsolicited AI Interpolation of Keith Haring's Work

Last Sunday, however, waves of outrage suddenly erupted from the thread when X user Donnel responded, writing, "The story behind this painting is so sad! Now using AI we can complete what he couldn't finish!"

Attached in Donnel's post is an altered version of the Haring painting, its missing parts haphazardly filled in by AI generative technology.

Other users immediately welled up in a rage, with one saying: "Congrats this is the worst thing I've ever seen," while others commented how the interpolation was a "desecration of [Haring's] art" hoping that Donnel's "heinous action" gets punished.

"This is incomprehensible, you can't see what anything is," another user noted, criticizing that the AI only made "squiggles" and nothing remotely similar to the original area of the piece.

"Clearly you know nothing about Keith or this painting. It was left unfinished on purpose," commented another user. "I hope his estate sues you."

That said, amongst the sea of anger, a handful of users saw through Donnel's post and realized the user was probably just "trolling."

Many of these keen-eyed individuals called out Donnel for "rage baiting," an internet practice of intentionally making other people upset to gain traction.

"Pack it up. This is the best post of 2023. An absolute masterclass in baiting," one user pointed out.