In October 2018, Christie’s sold the portrait “Edmond de Belamy, from La Famille de Belamy” for $432,500, including fees. “Who is the artist?” you would enthusiastically ask. The painting was created by Obvious, the French collective and the first AI artist that sold the artwork at an art auction. Back then, those were the first beams of the public light, which was indeed an incredible result, considering that artificial intelligence’s creative skills had been trained for many years before that. Nowadays, things are changing weekly, and AI art aims to become a new branch in the art industry. But is it ready? Can we seriously consider it art? Let’s give some thought to the question.

How Is Air Generated?

As well as painters and sculptors, the machine also needs to learn how to create aesthetics. There are actually two main techniques that allow the computer to generate paintings.

The first method implies that the system receives a large set of data consisting of pictures of real paintings. After that, it analyzes every artwork and finds similarities in the group. Once AI has completed the analysis of components, it can start creating art. There is only one problem with such AI art: many people are skeptical about it, as what you get is the product of millions of little acts of stealing. To make it look really unique, you should have an extensive database to upload, but then the outcome might be quite messy.

The second method is more sophisticated, as AI art is based on knowledge about the key components of art, meaning the patterns of the process, rather than the parts of different paintings. As a result, the computer can produce art with a distinct style. However, it is technologically raw, and there is still much to be done to reach excellence.

Can Artificial Intelligence Be Considered Art?

Truth be told, people are still arguing about what makes real art, to say nothing of NFT art and AI art, some of the newest mediums of today. So, is it art or not? It depends on you. The whole world is not yet ready to give a definite answer to that question. Now, you are free to choose the side or stand aside. If you are at a crossroads, you might want to explore it by yourself. Consider learning more about such AI art generators as DALL-E 2, Big Sleep, NightCafe, Deep Dream Generator, DeepAI, Runway ML, and Artbreeder.