Generative AI show posters splitting the arts community

You’re reading the July 30, 2026 edition of the Peterborough Currents email newsletter. To receive our email newsletters straight to your inbox, sign up here.

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Hi, I’m Currents co-editor Alex Karn. Welcome to your weekly Peterborough Currents email newsletter! 

This week we’re sharing a story about the Peterborough music scene’s responses to the increased use of generative AI to create local show posters. Also this week, our election survey, news updates from across the city, event listings, and a new mystery photo. 

Let’s dive in!

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Generative AI show posters splitting the arts community

by Alex Karn

A conversation that began with a handful of local event posters has split Peterborough’s arts community on issues of originality, ethics, accessibility, and the creative economy.

Over the past several weeks, musicians, performers, designers, and event organizers have debated the growing use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) to create promotional posters and other marketing materials. While some see the technology as an accessible tool for artists working within limited budgets, others argue it undermines the local creative economy by replacing work that could instead support designers, illustrators, and photographers in the area.

The discussion spread across local Facebook groups, prompted the creation of a new online group for local artists opposed to generative AI, and led some organizers to rethink how their promotional materials are created.

Lead singer and founder of local power group My Fair Lady, Ell Parker, has also designed all of the band’s show posters over the years. They told Peterborough Currents that they first noticed AI-generated posters becoming common only a few months ago, but this summer the issue quickly became difficult to ignore.

“The one that really did it for me was there was a post of someone who was hosting an open mic,” Parker said. “You weren’t allowed to play covers. It had to be all original music… and the poster was generative AI.

“A live show is so many more steps than just what you’re doing in that moment on stage, and every step of it should be magic…. I’d say the poster is where you need to have the most soul and magic, and it’s just being lost,” Parker said. ”I need to step in with whatever I can do to help this.”

So they responded by offering low-cost poster design services in hopes of giving local artists and event organizers an affordable alternative. Their designs cost $20 for a small poster or $40 for a large one, and they stated that although a handful of artists have taken them up on the offer, the ones who cited affordability as the reason they continue to use generative AI did not reach out. 

Local drag performer and graphic designer Sahira Jiddawy told Peterborough Currents that AI-generated promotional materials risk diminishing both the visual identity of local events and the artists who would otherwise create that work.

“If every poster starts looking like every other AI poster, then we’ve traded personality for convenience. Local events stop looking local,” they said. “Instead of investing money back into your local arts ecosystem, you’re investing in billion-dollar tech companies…. I think the ethical choice is pretty obvious. Local art deserves local artists.”

The conversation has also prompted some artists and organizers to reconsider their own practices. Following discussions within Peterborough’s Music Scene Facebook group, administrator and longtime musician Gailie Young announced that AI-generated promotional posts would no longer be accepted in the group. In her post, Young wrote that she had previously shared AI-generated content herself before learning more about its impacts. She also encouraged members to help others learn alternatives rather than attacking people still trying to understand the technology.

Several artists and event organizers who continue to use generative AI, or believe the issue is more nuanced than its portrayal by other arts community members, declined interview requests or said they no longer felt comfortable speaking publicly after seeing the tone of recent discussions.

While local artists making use of generative AI may be unwilling to talk openly about their reasoning, this conversation is also playing out on the global stage. As AI use becomes more prevalent, organizations in every sector are learning how to navigate and developing their own policies around this new technological frontier. 

“Through incorporating AI into the creative process, artists may exert greater control over their creative output,” Jainaba Beyai, Policy Advisor for OCAD University in Toronto, wrote in her piece, AI Generated Art Implications, published on OCAD’s Cultural Policy Hub. “AI-generated outputs inspire artists to experiment with new styles and techniques, expanding the creative possibilities and pushing the boundaries of traditional art.”

“Generative AI may help artists be more efficient with their studio time,” she added, noting that, “AI algorithms can be programmed to automatically correct mistakes or inconsistencies in a design and automate time-consuming and repetitive processes, such as data entry and image manipulation.”

Even as the rift between artists grows, many local musicians say they are still learning about a rapidly evolving technology and trying to determine what place, if any, it should have within Peterborough’s creative community. For Parker, that divide is just as concerning as the technology itself.

“The last thing I want is animosity between musicians. I’ve always been a huge champion of the idea that musicians should not be competitive; they should be collaborative and should lift each other up and celebrate each other’s successes,” they said. “It hurts that this is the hill that a lot of musicians have chosen to die on…. It’s just heartbreaking.”

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What election issues matter to you?

Peterborough Currents is currently hard at work behind the scenes planning our coverage of the upcoming municipal election, and we want to hear from our readers about the issues that matter most to you in Peterborough.

What topics will shape our city in the next four years and beyond?
What urgently must be addressed by the candidates?
What is missing from the conversation and the local coverage?

Fill out our short, anonymous, two-question survey, and help us to shape the future of this city.

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News in brief

by Gabe Pollock

Here’s a catch-up on what’s been going on in Peterborough and the surrounding region, with the support of our partners in local media:

• Talks have resumed around the City of Peterborough’s plans to annex Cavan Monaghan Township, but all is not going smoothly. The idea has been on the books for decades, and Mayor Leal made it a key part of his 2022 election platform, but negotiations have stalled out multiple times. Now, the City’s public announcement that talks are happening has drawn the ire of Peterborough County Warden Bonnie Clark and Cavan Monaghan Mayor Matthew Graham, who say it violates confidentiality agreements. “I’ve always been told election [season] was referred to as silly season for a reason,” Graham told The Peterborough Examiner. “It’s just disappointing and certainly undermining to the good faith nature of a discussion that has literally just started.”
  
• A group of Ontario MPPs, including Peterborough-Kawartha’s Dave Smith, have released a statement questioning the Alto high-speed rail project, which is planned to include a stop in Peterborough. “In the case of Alto, too many questions remain unanswered. Too many voices have been ignored,” reads the statement. This comes after the federal government rejected Premier Doug Ford’s plan to expand Billy Bishop Airport in Toronto. As of writing of this newsletter, Smith has not provided a comment on the statement.
  
• Justice Bhavneet K. Bhangu called the treatment of inmates at Lindsay’s Central East Corrections Facility “shocking” after revelations that inmates were left outside in -20 degree temperatures for approximately 90 minutes without proper winter wear. These conditions, also including frequent lockdowns and inmates being triple-bunked, have led to a reduced sentence for Geoffrey Riley, convicted of manslaughter and aggravated assault in connection to a Peterborough shooting death in 2024. Justice Bhangu says this will “hopefully signal” to corrections administrators that the conditions are unacceptable.
  
• A new group in town aims to educate, support, and empower renters in the community. The Peterborough Tenants Union, founded by Lydia Lambert and organized through the r/Peterborough community on Reddit, hopes to help renters understand their rights and foster positive relationships between tenants and landlords. They are having their first virtual meeting on August 2.
  
• A new City of Peterborough pilot program is providing free transit passes to youth between 13 and 18, which can be used after school, on weekends, and during statutory holidays and school breaks. The hope is to help students get more mobile and help them to get comfortable with the local transit system. Eligible youth can register online.

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What’s on this weekend?

Peterborough Currents’ weekly event listings are back to help you plan your weekend. If you have an event coming up you’d like to share with our readers, email the details to us at news@peterboroughcurrents.ca

Here are just a few of the goings on in town over the next couple of days:

• The Peterborough Concert Band will perform on Thursday, July 30 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Jalynn Bennett Amphitheatre at Traill College as part of the William & Nona Heaslip Foundation Summer Festival. The free concert will feature a program of popular favourites ranging from Duke Ellington and Les Misérables to Oliver! and Uptown Funk. The performance is suitable for all ages.
  
• Georgia Rose will perform as part of the Peterborough Musicfest Future Sound Series presented by Cogeco on Saturday, August 1 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Del Crary Park. The emerging indie-pop singer-songwriter from the Kawarthas will perform original music ahead of the evening’s Peterborough Musicfest concert, a Garth Brooks and Shania Twain tribute act. Admission is free.
  
• The City of Peterborough’s Canada Day fireworks display, postponed due to weather, has been rescheduled for Saturday, August 1 at approximately 9:30 p.m. in Del Crary Park following the Peterborough Musicfest concert. Temporary road closures will be in effect around the park from noon until 10:30 p.m., although local traffic will continue to have access within the closure area.
  
• The Electric City Swing Band will perform as part of the Concerts at the Zoo series on Sunday, August 2 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the gazebo in the south end of Riverview Park and Zoo. The 18-piece Peterborough big band will perform a mix of swing, Latin, rock, and pop music. Visitors are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or picnic blankets. Admission is free.

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Where in Peterborough…

This mystery photo location has recently surged in popularity online, thanks to memes and jokes first shared on the Peterborough, Ontario sub-Reddit. Any guesses at where the photo was taken? Let us know at news@peterboroughcurrents.ca

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