Reviewing the Role of Artificial Intelligence in Creating Original Works of Art Case Study: Harold Cohen's Paintings

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Ph.D Candidate in Art Research, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Visual Art, Art University, Tehran, Iran.

3 Professor, Philosophy of Art, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Abstract:
Problem statement: The increasing use of artificial intelligence in the field of visual arts has led to the creation of innovative and diverse works of art. However, despite the widespread interest of artists in using this technology, its place and importance in creating an artwork has not been carefully evaluated. Among the central questions in this regard is the role of artificial intelligence in the formation of original works of art.
Research objectives: The purpose of this research is to investigate the role and importance of artificial intelligence in creating original works of art. For this purpose, the works of Harold Cohen, who is one of the pioneers of using artificial intelligence in the art of painting, will be evaluated. Therefore, in the first part, the concept of artificial intelligence is briefly stated. Then the Chinese room thought experiment, which is one of the most prominent tests related to artificial intelligence, will be used as a tool to check the performance of the machine "AARON", created by Harold Cohen. In this test, "creativity", "awareness" and "experience" will be evaluated as the main components of producing original works of art. In the following, problems related to the role of the mentioned components in the performance of AARON will be listed. Finally, an attempt is made to present a new formulation of these fundamental concepts, despite the flaws in the works produced by AARON, it has an undeniable role in the creation of the artwork.
Research method: In order to evaluate AARON's performance in the formation of the artwork, this research considers John Searle's approach and his Chinese room argument.
Conclusion: Artificial intelligence plays an important and undeniable role in the production of original, innovative and creative works of art.

Keywords


Ravenscroft, I. (2008). Philosophy of Mind: An Introductory Guide (H. Sheikh Rezaei, Trans.). Tehran: Serat.
Barlow, H. B. (1983). Vision: A computational investigation into the human representation and processing of visual information: David Marr. San Francisco: WH Freeman.
Broeckmann, A. (2016).  Machine art in the twentieth century. Washington: MIT Press.
Cetinic, E., & She, J. (2022). Understanding and creating art with AI: Review and outlook. ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications, and Applications (TOMM), 18(2), 1-22.
Cohen, H. (1999). Colouring without seeing: A problem in machine creativity. AISB, (102), 26-35.
Cohen, H. (1995). The further exploits of AARON, painter. Stanford Humanities Review, 4(2), 141-158.
Cohen, W. I. (1992). Art Collecting as International Relations: Chinese Art and American Culture. American-East Asian Relations,  1(4), 409-434.
Danto, A. C. (1998). Beyond the Brillo box: The visual arts in post-historical perspective. Univ of California Press.
Davies, S. (2012). The artful species: Aesthetics, art, and evolution. Oxford: OUP.
Dewey, J. (1925). The historic background of corporate legal personality. Yale LJ, (35), 655.
Du Sautoy, M. (2019). The creativity code. The creativity code: art and innovation in the age of AI. Harvard University Press.‏
Fodor, J. A. (1981). The mind-body problem. Scientific American, 244(1), 114-123.
James, W. & Burkhardt, F. H. (1983). The principles of psychology, the works of william james. Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society, 19 (2), 211-223.
McCarthy, J., Minsky, M. L., Rochester, N. & Shannon, C. E. (1956). A proposal for the Dartmouth summer research project on artificial intelligence. AI Magazine, 27(4), 12-14.
Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 63(2), 81.
McCorduck, P. (1991). Aaron’s code: meta-art, artificial intelligence, and the work of Harold Cohen. London: Macmillan.‏
Novitz, D. (1999). Creativity and constraint. Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 77(1), 67-82.
Putnam, H. (1967). Psychological predicates. Art, mind, and Religion, (1), 37-48.
Russell, S. & Norvig, P. (2010). Artificial intelligence: A modern approach (3rd Ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Ryle, G. (1949). The concept of mind Hutchinson. London: Routledge.
Sharples, M., Hogg, D., Hutchinson, C., Torrance, S., & Young, D. (1989). Computers and thought: A practical introduction to artificial intelligence. Washington: The MIT Press.
Searle, J. R. (1980a). Minds, Brains, and Programs, The Behavioral and Brain Sciences. V. 3. Cambridge University Press.
Searle, J. R. (1980b). Intrinsic intentionality. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 3(3), 450-457.
Searle, J. R. (1984). Minds, brains and science. Harvard University Press.
Zylinska, J. (2020). AI art: machine visions and warped dreams (p. 181). Open Humanities Press.‏