AI Art and Artists: What They Are, What They Could Be, What They Should Be
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Generative AI systems provoke important practical questions, but they also provoke existential anxieties, which arise in response either to the reality or the possibility of AI art made by genuinely creative AI artists. This article first reviews recent arguments that existing AI systems do not make art and are not genuinely creative. It then argues that existential anxieties are not warranted if possible AI artists are just like human artists. Finally, it argues that, if they are not just like human artists, then we should design them to benefit us by satisfying an interest in aesthetic diversity. The upshot is that no existential anxieties are justified. In making this argument, this article draws lessons about AI art and artists and also about our values and interests.
DOI: 10.1093/jaac/kpag001
Author: Dominic McIver Lopes
Institution: University of British Columbia
Language: English
Topic: Art, Technology, and Culture
Subfield: Visual Arts and Performing Arts
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,492
OpenAlex ID: W7134192033