Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a pivotal force in the art world, challenging traditional ideas of creativity, authorship, and the artistic process. By using algorithms in the art creation, AI-generated art pushes the boundaries of what it means to be an artist and what constitutes art. As a result of this technological evolution, authorship in the digital age requires reevaluation, especially since the “artist” in this case, is a machine learning model trained on vast datasets of existing artworks.
These shifts can be examined through Roland Barthes’s seminal essay, “Death of the Author.” According to Barthes, the intentions and biography of the author are irrelevant in the interpretation of a text, and that a text’s meaning is instead created by the reader. Barthes argues that by focusing on the reader rather than the author, suggests that any work or art is open to interpretation in ways that can far exceed the original intentions of its creators.
“The birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the Author.”
AI-generated art embodies the “death” of the Author in a literal sense as there is no human author/creator. Instead, the AI acts as a ‘scriptor’ that generates images based on algorithms and data sets, devoid of personal history and intention. In traditional artistic processes, the artist’s personal experiences, emotions, and intentions are considered vital in understanding and appreciating art. However, with AI stepping into the role of the creator, these parameters no longer apply. This does not necessarily diminish the art’s potential for emotional impact, rather, it can shift the source of these reactions from the artist’s intent to the viewer’s experience. This connects back to Barthes’s perspective that the text (in this case, the artwork) should be separated from the identity of the author/creator thus challenging the romanticised view of the artist as a unique source of creativity.
AICAN, an artificial intelligence program capable of generating original artworks, serves as a great example representing an innovative leap into the realm of autonomous artistic creations. Developed by Ahmed Elgammal and his team at the Art & AI Lab at Rutgers University, AICAN is built upon the foundation of deep learning algorithms and Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs). It gathers a large dataset of historical artworks, learning from the styles and techniques of thousands of years of human creation.
AICAN Official Website
AICAN challenges our preconceived beliefs of creativity and the idea of a singular genius artist by producing creative artworks that speak to the depth and complexity of human-made art. It offers a collaborative form of creativity that utilizes the cumulative knowledge and expressions of humanity, pieced together through the lens of AI. This shift expands the boundaries of artistic creation as well as redefines the artist’s role in the age of digital art, creating a partnership between human intention and algorithmic exploration.
Another striking example of AI’s influence in the art world is seen in Mario Klingemann’s "Memories of Passersby I.” Klingemann is an innovative artist in the field of AI art who explores memory, identity, and the human experience through the manipulation of neural networks. "Memories of Passersby I.” is a powerful work of art that captures the fusion of human and artificial creation. Klingemann uses the intricate interplay of algorithms to produce captivating visual compositions that evoke contemplation and nostalgia. Similarly to AICAN, Klingemann questions traditional notions of authorship and creativity in his work that blur the lines between human machine agency in the creative process. This connects back to Barthes's view on how the unity and meaning of a work lie not in its origin but in its destination, emphasizing the role of the viewer in ascribing significance to the artwork.
Memories of Passersby I, Mario Klingemann
The integration of AI into the art world represents a transformative shift that challenges traditional notions of authorship and creativity. As artists and viewers navigate this evolving landscape, it is crucial to embrace the collaborative potential of AI-generated art, recognizing its profound impact on our understanding of artistic expression in the digital age.
