Arts and the Machine

Reflection on Aaron Hertzmann’s Can Computers Create Art?

Summary:

No, not yet.

In this three-part blog post (based on his academic paper), Aaron Hertzmann presents a holistic perspective on the relationship between arts and machines. People thought realistic painting would be obsolete with the advent of photography but artists adapted, and we got newer styles of painting (e.g. Impressionism), and photography became a new art form. Analogical to cameras being a tool, AI could be a tool. Further, Hertzmann argues that AI cannot (yet) be considered an artist for it lacks the social aspects that seems central in all arts form.

Reflections:

I agree with Hertzmann’s argument that we can consider AI as an enabler of a new art form. Each technology has supported an adaption, mutation, and evolution of art forms. AI is a new tool towards a new art form — both of creation and appreciation.

Over the years, we have moved from drawing on cave walls to a canvas. Similarly, our mode of art consumption has changed from listening opera together in a theatre to listening individually via bone conduction! Everything evolves; art is no different.

As for AI itself being the creator, I again agree with Hertzmann that art has a certain intent and communication that predicates sociality. AI, at least in the current form of RNNs and CNNs, do not quite espouse sociality. The programmer (or the data-feeder) has the intent, the need for communication, and hence, the social inkling. They can be considered an artist. Even a recluse (Kafka comes to mind) has an intent of self-expression and communication (be it to burn it all after death). That seems to be not there in AI systems, as Hertzmann argues.

The other question that arises from these posts is: how will the current (“traditional”) art forms evolve? We have seen AI mimic painting (such as those created by Picasso and Van Gogh) and copy photography styles. There can only be two ways (and not necessarily mutually exclusive): (1) create new styles within the existing forms that AI cannot adapt and/or (2) leverage AI as a tool to evolve a new art form that is true (to greater extent) to the old form.