An almost unperceived change: art and artificial intelligence

Abstract

Artificial intelligence is becoming a more and more pervasive presence in our lives, even if its company often remains unperceived. We interact with it in many different areas, some-times without even realizing it. In this context, an aim of this paper is to show that doing AI art (and being a careful spectator of it) can be a very effective way to investigate what AI actually is. Yet what is the AI for the artist? Is it just a tool (like the piano to the pianist or the brush to the painter)? Or is the machine the real artist? As it will be shown, neither of these state-ments can be right. AI nowadays is not capable of creating art without human intervention (nor would it feel the need to). The so-called AGI (artificial general intelligence) is far to come. On the other hand, the very concept of AI implies, as it will be shown, the idea of a growing autonomy of the machine. From this point of view, AI is not like a piano or a brush.