Autonomy, authenticity, authorship and intention in computer generated art

Abstract

This paper examines five key questions surrounding computer generated art. Driven by the recent public auction of a work of “AI Art” we selectively summarise many decades of research and commentary around topics of autonomy, authenticity, authorship and intention in computer generated art, and use this research to answer contemporary questions often asked about art made by computers that concern these topics. We additionally reflect on whether current techniques in deep learning and Generative Adversarial Networks significantly change the answers provided by many decades of prior research.