Dr Tom Roberts: AI Art and Human Agency

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Recent advances in generative artificial intelligence have granted users the power to create formally-elaborate, high-definition digital images of any subject matter, replicating nearly any medium or technique, and in the style of the artist or movement of their choosing. With a few keystrokes, it is possible to conjure an impressionist watercolour of a landscape, for example, or a pencil portrait of a famous figure.  

Suppose that we accept that images produced in conjunction with a machine learning algorithm can count as works of art. Open questions remain concerning the types of value that such works can manifest, for many values of art appear intrinsically tied to the exercise of human agency: being skilful or sincere, for instance, or being a spectacular achievement. In this paper, I explore the extent to which values of artistic execution can inhere in AI-assisted visual artworks, and how this affects our appreciative practices.