Robot 'Artists' Muddy the Meaning of Art

When Oxford art gallery director Aidan Meller and his team created Ai-Da, a human-form robot that can draw and paint using “machine learning” algorithms, they sought to challenge commonly held ideas of what art is.¹ Their website claims that the idea that “art is entirely a human affair” is no longer appropriate and that “Ai-Da creates art because art no longer has to be restrained by the requirement of human agency alone.”² (They also claim that machines and algorithms are replacing human agency, an error I may address separately. Here I want to focus on their claims about art.)

Meller and his team’s achievement in designing and building a machine capable of creating intricate, original images and “learning” to do so in a range of styles is impressive. I commend them on their hard work and their contribution to the development of computer and robotics technology.

That said, their claims about Ai-Da’s creations evidence a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature and function of art. . . .

About Thomas Walker-Werth

Thomas Walker-Werth is associate editor at The Objective Standard and a fellow at both Objective Standard Institute and Foundation for Economic Education. He is currently writing his first full-length book, Reason for Living: A Rational, Fact-Based Approach to Living Your Best Life. Follow more of his writing at <a href="http://reasonforliving.substack.com".

View all articles by Thomas Walker-Werth →