AI, art and morality

Abstract

After ‘Théâtre D’opéra Spatial’ won a prize in the Colorado State Fair’s annual art competition in 2022 there was a very strong outcry in the media that this signified the ‘end of art’. Allen himself was quoted in the New York Times saying ‘Art is dead, dude. It’s over. AI won. Humans lost.’ While some dismissed the idea that AI generated images constitute real art, others more optimistically argued that the creative process is undergoing transformation. In this paper I want to address several worries regarding AI art. I argue that far from signifying the end of art or not qualifying as legitimate art, we should be focusing on what value generated art could have. I first explore how algorithmic bias, data extraction, and environmental concerns can affect how we engage with AI generated art and whether we find it valuable. I then explore whether there are conditions under which these moral flaws could be overcome to engage the audience with generated artworks in a meaningful way, offering thus conditions under which the choice of using the technology can be seen as artistically valuable, despite its moral flaws.