What is Art? (Can AI Create It?)
The following is my attempt to define what art is and whether or not artificial intelligence can create it.
Art, like creativity and intelligence, is sometimes difficult to define. However, to echo the words of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart in regards to obscene content, "I know it when I see it."
In today's ever-evolving world, humans have seemingly endowed technology with the capability of creating art via artificial intelligence, which assembles and generates new images (and videos, scripts, etc.) from existing human work. All one has to do is insert a prompt and wait for the machine to produce the desired effect. The results are often novel and uncanny, but sometimes, especially as the algorithms adapt, the assemblages are surprisingly convincing and even stunning.
What, then, is the value in the continued use of widespread human-made art, literature, films, and music? If AI, like a cocooning caterpillar, can break down and reshape things into "new" content nearly of its own volition, it appears human creatives are out of a job. Paying human artists for their labor is hardly the glamorous choice for money-minded companies when the technology available at their fingertips can do the heavy lifting at a fraction (or none) of the cost and time.
These concerns necessitate understanding what "true art" is, assuming such a subjective term can be measured.
Art Vs. Content
Art typically involves creations (paintings, music, movies, etc.) that emotionally and intellectually stimulate consumers. One rule I use to distinguish art from mere content is this: I must be changed or swayed in some deeper manner by the creation in question.
"Deeper manner" means that my perspective on something has significantly shifted. I have been moved emotionally, gained insight into an important issue because of the creation, and/or I carry the experience with me after consumption. Art must impart a lasting impression. It doesn't necessarily have to change my mind, but it needs to change my mood or current outlook.
Many songs and movies I've enjoyed are fun and emotionally stimulating, but I wouldn't call them artistic masterpieces. In fact, some of them are guilty pleasures. Another defining factor of art is its capacity to communicate a profound truth without explicitly stating it.
Art must be both entertaining and historically/culturally/spiritually relevant, with a certain degree of accuracy, precision, and finesse, to achieve a status above the level of content. Often, this comes in the form of sophisticated aesthetics, faithful but somewhat unconventional use of genre/medium conventions, and an elevation or revelation of existential truths.
For example, one wouldn't liken a YouTube prank video to a well-crafted arthouse film. But why? Because just as the intricacy, novelty, and level of effort matter, so intention matters, too. And intention is one facet of art that an artificially "intelligent" machine cannot imitate as a conscience-less entity.
Lacking emotions and independent will, AI fails to grasp how to genuinely create something. AI programs are not living, breathing, sentient beings—not I, Robot clones—but machines. These programs are a technology that utilizes algorithms and a touch of human input to cobble together "new" material already generated by human beings in the ether. Thus, in a detached, mathematical manner, AI is entirely derivative (and unfeeling) in its "creativity."
A Guiding “True Art” Checklist:
For my current breakdown of “true art,” consider the following things art has/does:
Emotional and intellectual properties
The capacity to influence, adjust, or entirely change a person's outlook or feelings
Linger after consumption (i.e., isn't bland or mindless)
Communicative properties that illustrate, in an aesthetically pleasing and somewhat novel way, deep realities
Plotted and well-executed effort
Intention and motivation (distinctly sentient abilities)
Art requires a certain level of effort and quality to set it above content.
There's also a seventh element of art that warrants consideration. Many of the best art pieces in history were influenced by real-life human experiences.
The Godzilla series, as an example, originated from post-WWII nuclear hysteria. Concerned about the future of Japan and the world following the United States' atomic attacks, in addition to a hydrogen bomb test that poisoned Japan's fishing waters, the creators at Toho conceived a giant radioactive monster to embody the suffering inflicted by WMDs.
The experiences of Yevgeny Zamyatin, author of We, were so comparable to Soviet Russia that the book earned a decades-long ban in the country. Today, the United Kingdom warns against the dangers of consuming classics like Nineteen-Eighty-Four, The Lord of the Rings, and C.S. Lewis's work because it encourages "right-wing extremism."
It is clear that when human experience pairs with human will and intention, it yields excellent art. Even now, art and books once hailed as must-sees and must-reads are undergoing censorship, bans, and severe scrutiny for “offensive” content or their eerie resemblance to past and present societal dangers.
Sentience and Art
As technology lacks sentience, it cannot truly experience anything more than any object can. AI is no more intelligent than a book on a shelf or a smartphone; it is merely a knowledge repository installed with finely-tuned adaptive technology. AI cannot "learn" or feel, so it cannot draw from personal experiences or existential moments to inject into artwork.
Even so, it's evident from a visual standpoint that AI can whip up some terrific-looking stuff. From an aesthetic/optics perspective, AI is already performing at or above the level of many human artists.
Jason M. Allen’s “Théâtre D’opéra Spatial,” digital art prize-winner at the 2022 Colorado State Fair
With this in mind, it's undeniable that AI possesses at least a few legitimate artistic capabilities, though, as aforementioned, everything it produces is derivative of pre-existing work.
Let's refer again to that "what art has/does" checklist...
AI’s Creative Abilities
AI can generate images that:
Influence the consumer (possibly even with perceived emotional/intellectual properties if the consumer doesn't know better)
Linger after consumption (because of novelty, extreme appearance, aesthetic quality, etc.)
Communicative properties (albeit limited due to lack of sentience)
So, what is AI missing? If it's so brilliant that it can conjure up hundreds of new images from splicing and dicing thousands or millions of others, are human artists finally out of work for good?
Not exactly.
AI Doesn’t “Get” This Crucial Part of Creativity…
AI lacks the fundamental why's and hows behind the traditional creative journey, and to explore this further, I'll introduce an eighth element of art that seems overlooked when discussing this issue.
The creative process.
Many writers, musicians, artists, and creatives of all kinds attest to the cathartic power of the creative process. It's a journey, a uniquely human one, that shapes the maker as they delve deep into their psyche and soul for their projects. Indeed, creative activity significantly boosts moods, lowers stress, and improves humans' overall well-being.
Can AI connect to its programmed creation process in this way? Does its work affect, move, heal, and satisfy it like it does people?
Well, without sentience, the answer is simple: no!
An object derives no pleasure from beauty. It doesn't think, even if it computes. Have you ever known someone brilliant but utterly devoid of charisma? These people are often accused of being insensitive or emotionless because, while they excel at "spitting facts," they don't seem to be moved by anything.
But even that person is leaps and bounds more sentient (and emotionally "with it") than a machine!
The Verdict
Without the creative process—which requires direct human intervention, emotional investment, intention, at least some lived experiences, and desire—AI art may achieve aesthetic qualities but lacks the remaining inherent artistic qualities.
These cannot be understated: unless material ticks all of the checklist items, can it really be considered anything higher than content? I suppose it depends on each person’s definition of art. Some content is very good—good-looking, good-feeling, and such—but without all of these things...
Emotional and intellectual properties
The capacity to influence, adjust, or entirely change a person's outlook or feelings
Ability to linger after consumption
Communicative properties that illustrate, in an aesthetically pleasing and somewhat novel way, deep realities
Plotted and well-executed effort
Intention and motivation (distinctly sentient abilities)
Human experiences
The sentient creative process
As I see it, it's nothing more than a pretty picture, a jumble of uninspired words, and an excuse to skip all the hard steps of being a skilled creator.
A Thought for You...
You may have always dreamed of creating exceptional art of some kind but find that you lack the skills or drive to make it. It may be tempting to surrender to the AI craze and assume intellectual rights over content you didn't conceive. But please consider this...
Art demands sacrifice. It is revered not only because of its visual beauty but because of the investment—of time, energy, human care, and intentions—into it. Art exemplifies what humans are capable of when they approach something that matters to them from a place of depth, tenderness, and calculated effort.
Art requires patience. It doesn't develop with a quick click, nor does it arise overnight. As an author, I have learned that the best work requires much time and frequently draws on your emotions, experiences, suffering, and joy. Artistic creation humanizes you and detaches you from the apathetic grip of an increasingly technological world.
Those who write come to define themselves in a way. Those who draw sketch into their work the intricate details of their souls. Those who compose infuse a sense of rhythm—and a cause for dancing—into their often offbeat lives.
And this is good. This is what art was intended to do: affect me and affect you.
If any of this resonates, I hope my attempted explanation of what art is, does, and means will remind you that the only way to stay alive in a dying culture is to cling to the deepest gusts of life within you... your spiritual breath. That is something artificial "life" can never possess: something entirely unique to you.
