Seoul National University Museum of Art × Sigong Art Contemporary Art ing Series
Generative AI, which has emerged as a leading force in creation,
How will 'art' evolve in the face of technological changes that shake the concept of art?

The advent of artificial intelligence is bringing about various changes in the field of art.
Artificial intelligence, which digests human creations into data, is demonstrating a combination of various media beyond text.
These results, which appear to be no different from those created by humans on the surface, are shocking us as we perceive them as evidence that artificial intelligence has now become capable of creating things that were once considered the exclusive domain of humans.
We now live in an age where high-quality images can be created with just a simple sentence.
Will artificial intelligence truly spell the end of art? Or will art undergo a transformation in the face of technological changes that shake up the very concept of art?

New technologies have always transformed art.
Technology is not only a tool for creating works of art, but it is also a subject that revolutionizes the way works of art exist and the way people view them.
Photography has redefined the concept of traditional painting, film has created new perspectives with moving images and scene editing, and digital has changed the way we view art, allowing us to view it in real time, anywhere.
New technologies have changed and expanded previous concepts and norms of art.
The same goes for generative AI.
Just as advanced technologies have opened up possibilities for art, artificial intelligence technology will open up a new world beyond the art we know.

"AI, Asking the Future of Art" is the second book in the Contemporary Art ing series.
We will explore a wide range of topics, from the concept of artificial intelligence used in the arts, to discussions about AI's role in artistic creation, AI art viewed from a techno-philosophical perspective, copyright issues, trends from the perspectives of cybernetics and contemporary art, to the works of contemporary artists collaborating with AI, and to future issues and prospects.
This is a guidebook that helps you understand the possibilities and issues of generative artificial intelligence from the perspectives of various experts.

Artificial intelligence refers to machines that think and act like humans.
(...) The ability to solve problems under uncertainty when faced with a new problem can be called 'intelligence'.
If artificial intelligence is defined as a machine that mimics human intelligence, then artificial intelligence can be redefined as “a machine that has the ability to solve problems on its own under the uncertainty of a complex environment.”
--- From Chapter 1, "A Guide to Artificial Intelligence"

The reason that a painting produced by a new medium called artificial intelligence can be considered art is not because artificial intelligence is recognized as a human-like being.
Art can become a product of human practice as it changes, how we use the product and how we handle the technology involved.

--- From Chapter 2, "Does Artificial Intelligence Dream of Art?"

If the definition of "modern art" already includes traces of the new technology of photography, what kind of mark will AI leave behind? Will it redefine the definition of art, like photography, expanding and evolving it into the next stage of art? Or will it usher in the end of art, as people feared when photography was introduced?
--- Chapter 3 'Artificial Intelligence, Humans, and Art.
From "What and How to Discuss"

Artificial intelligence is a defining technology of our time.
(...) Artificial intelligence technology is dismantling the status of (human) artists, the method of producing works, and the relationship between artists, works, and viewers more radically than any previous technology.
It is no coincidence that the argument that 'artificial intelligence cannot create art' is raised.
But this technology will ultimately change not only the forms and norms of art up to now, but also our very idea of ​​what art is and what it should be.
Therefore, rather than debating whether current products that imitate previous art forms using artificial intelligence technology are art or not, it is more important to assess the unique possibilities and potential of this technology that will change the very concept of art in the future.

--- From Chapter 4, “Creative Field and Artificial Intelligence I”

The 'generator' of artificial intelligence is a black box.
In other words, it is a 'dark box' where one cannot know what is happening inside, and the images produced by the creator are the product of complete coincidence and combination.
So, does the involvement of AI in the production of art create a rift in the very principles of art? What will the future of art look like as human artists collaborate with AI?
--- From Chapter 5, "Creative Field and Artificial Intelligence II"

The accelerating automation of knowledge and art in the age of artificial intelligence brings to mind the Industrial Revolution, when handicrafts transitioned to factory-based industries.
Despite the automation of manufacturing, the last sector that has not been mass-produced, the knowledge and arts sector, is also rapidly being automated with the emergence of artificial intelligence, a means of producing knowledge and arts.
Generative AI is replacing the small-scale production of intellectuals and artists with a unique mass production system of user-tailored production.
(...) User-generated content has become food for generative AI, and AI-generated content is rapidly replacing content created by “humans”.


The machine's eye recognizes and remembers hundreds of millions of photos, then finds patterns and creates shapes.
Artificial intelligence is a combination of aggregated eyes, socialized vision, and statistically processed images.
It is not an eye focused on an individual's attention, but an eye that is averaged out, and at the same time, it is the eye of the whole.

--- From Chapter 6, “AI and the Problem of Knowledge”

Can the expectation that a creative fusion of technology and art will be possible through collaboration between art and industry be realized in the current era of AI? As technological advancements follow the direction of the digital industry, which seeks to understand consumers, build markets, and shape the future, the question of what art can do is deepening. What can AI art do to address capitalist desires?

--- From Chapter 7, “Art and Technology, the History of Their Resonance”

The question of whether the subject of image production is a human artist or an AI is not the essence of the matter.
What we should be focusing on is not what happens to AI, but what happens to humans—the ominous cracks quietly developing within human perception.
A crack is beginning to appear in the perception that humans are the most important thinkers and actors in all situations, a crack that is seen in the attitude of unhesitatingly requesting and accepting the help of AI software, such as Midjourney, rather than the thoughts and feelings that their own lives provide.

--- From Chapter 8, "Thinking about Art in the Age of Artificial Intelligence"