Artificial Aesthetics

Chinese landscape paintings produced using Generative Adversarial Networks (from: https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.05552)
Images in Impressionist style generated by Generative Adversarial Networks in 2021
Arca Musarithmica, Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680)

key details

22 October 2024
Online on Zoom
3pm — 5pm (CET)

about

Curated by Professor Emanuele Arielli, this lesson will discuss the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based systems in the creation and interpretation of artworks raises questions concerning authorship, originality, and aesthetic perception. While machine learning algorithms can generate visual, musical, and literary works that emulate traditional styles, there is the dilemma of whether such creations can be considered genuinely artistic or merely technical reproductions.

This topic also explores how technology can extend or limit human understanding of beauty, proposing a critical reflection on how AI-generated art challenges established aesthetic categories. Artificial aesthetics, therefore, invites reconsideration of the definitions of art and creator in the digital age, offering new perspectives on the evolution of art and its cultural and social impact. Additionally, the ethical implications of these developments will be considered.

The lesson will be held in Italian.

Lecturers

Emanuele Arielli

He is Associate Professor of Aesthetics at IUAV University in Venice. He has extensive teaching experience at several universities, including IULM University (Milan), G. D’Annunzio University (Pescara), Ca’ Foscari University (Venice), and the Technical University of Berlin. He has authored multiple books and academic papers, and collaborates internationally on research exploring the intersection between aesthetics, media and technology.