Can artificial intelligence create art?

The rise of artificial intelligence is now inevitable. AI’s potential for transforming all areas of society is something that is sparking debate and causing concern. But do we draw the line at art? 

Until now, the use of AI machines in art, music, and literature has been seen as going too far. Art has always been the expression and communication of ideas and emotions through a physical medium, whether painting, sculpture, film, dance, writing, photography, or theatre. Artistic expression has always come from the individual’s background, circumstances, personality, and influences, and machine creativity would, therefore, devalue the human endeavour.

Introducing AI-created art has always been the red line, a threat to the livelihoods of creators, and too much of an invasion into the psyche of humans, as claimed by protestors in the movie industry. But one artist wants us to give AI a chance. 

Pedro Sandoval, a Venezuelan artist now living in Spain, an abstract Neo-Expressionist painter whose works are exhibited in the Guggenheim museum in New York and the White House, sees the use of artificial intelligence as an extra tool for the artist, just like a brush, and unlike the protestors in Hollywood earlier this year, he does not fear it will take over. Sandoval was once a protégé of Andy Warhol and hobnobbed with the likes of Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Willem de Kooning in 1980s New York.

AI is the brush, not the artist

Now using AI in his own video works, Sandoval claims that because he is giving the commands to the computer, he is the artist with the creative vision that controls the final result, and therefore the one who owns the copyright. However, he warns that, like any tool, it needs to be controlled. The artist needs to know how to use the tool.

While the future looks like it will be dominated by artificial intelligence, from the legal profession to law enforcement, from government to policymaking, art, Sandoval insists, must continue to make references to the past so to give historical context to younger generations.