Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is ubiquitous in everyday life. Despite its benefits, it has created a negative perception of generative art as a valid artistic practice. After defining several classifications of AI-related visual art groups, this thesis argues that generative, algorithmic art deserves more recognition as valid works of art. This research presents a discussion of artists who utilize generative processes to create their work, algorithmically and otherwise. Their methods and intentions inform the discourse on generative art and its supporting philosophical theories. Specifically, topics from the interdisciplinary field of cognitive science, such as “the extended mind hypothesis,” help support the understanding that computers and software programs act as extensions of the artist. This reflects the natural evolution of generative art from the past into the present era. In this thesis and positive consideration of generative art, a case study is provided of exemplary artists who use AI in their process to create interactive pieces that address crucial societal issues, offer meaningful immersive experiences, evoke emotion, and cause audiences and members of the art world to reconsider the idea of simulation as part of a material and cognitive evolution. Given the new perspective of generative art that emerges from the study of these artists, this research asks what AI might do for the future of artmaking as it integrates artwork with machine learning. By also analyzing creative adversarial networks (CAN) and the various degrees of artist intervention, the role of computers is reimagined as a tool for producing artwork that audiences often find more appealing than human-made artwork. This thesis concludes that the generative process changes how we define and value AI-assisted art.