Artificial Aesthetics: Generative AI, Art and Visual Media
To cite this book, use the following:
APA (7th ed.): Manovich, L., & Arielli, E. (2024). Artificial aesthetics. https://manovich.net/index.php/projects/artificial-aesthetics
Chicago (17th ed.): Manovich, Lev, and Emanuele Arielli. "Artificial Aesthetics." 2024. https://manovich.net/index.php/projects/artificial-aesthetics.
Final Book PDF (all chapters in one file)
Each chapter was released online after completion during 2021-2024 on manovich.net and academia.edu. This PDF combines final edited versions of all chapters (added 01/15/2025)
Free download: Artificial Aesthetics: Generative AI, Art and Visual Media
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About the Book
Our book explores how generative AI is transforming our understanding of aesthetics, creativity, design, and art appreciation. It uses approaches from six fields. Emanuele brings perspectives from aesthetics, philosophy of art, and psychology of art. Lev contributes perspectives from media theory, digital culture studies, and computer science, as well as his four decades of experience as an artist creating digital media, including recent work with generative AI. This is the first time all 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 generative AI and its wide-reaching impact on art and culture, we made the decision to release each chapter online as soon as it was finished. The first chapter was released in December 2021, and the last one in September 2024. After all chapters were completed, we did some further editing and released the final version as a single PDF.
-- Lev Manovich and Emanuele Arielli, November 2021 – October 2024.
Separate Book Chapters (earlier versions)
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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.