Artificial Aesthetics: Generative AI, Art and Visual Media
Book authors: Lev Manovich and Emanuele Arielli.
Each chapter was released online after completion during 2021-2024 on manovich.net and academia.edu.
Book Chapters
(free download)
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1 Even an AI Could Do That
Emanuele Arielli. Published 12/15/2021.
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2 Who is an Artist in AI Era?
Lev Manovich. Published 01/18/2022.
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3 Chapter 3 - Techno-animism and the Pygmalion Effect.
Emanuele Arielli. Published 03/28/2022.
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4 Chapter 4 - AI and Myths of Creativity.
Lev Manovich. Published 05/18/2022.
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5 Chapter 5 - Seven Arguments about AI Images and Generative Media
Lev Manovich. Published 04/20/2023.
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6 Chapter 6 - Human Perception and The Artificial Gaze
Emanuele Arielli. Published 01/15/2024.
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7 Chapter 7 - Separate and Reassemble: Generative AI and Media History
Lev Manovich. Published 03/27/2024.
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8 Chapter 8 - From Tools to Authors
Emanuele Arielli. Published 09/24/2024.
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9 Chapter 9 - Made by and for humans? The Issue of Aesthetic Alignment
Emanuele Arielli. Published 09/27/2024.
About the Book
Our book examines how the rise of generative AI changing our familiar concepts of aesthetics, creativity, design, and art appreciation. It uses approaches from seven different fields: aesthetics, philosophy of art, and psychology of art (Emanuele), media theory, digital art, digital culture studies, and data science (Lev). This is the first time all of these different perspectives have been combined to analyze cultural AI.
We started working on the book in the summer of 2019, exchanging many messages, commenting on each other's ideas, and sharing section drafts. While each chapter is written by a single author, it incorporates our ongoing discussions.
Given the rapid evolution of AI and its wide-reaching impact on art and culture, we made the decision to release each chapter draft freely online upon completion. In September 2024 we released the last chapters, so the book is now complete, and translations into Spanish and Chinese are already in progress.
Lev Manovich and Emanuele Arielli, November 2021 – October 2024.