ARTH 63.74 Art and AI: Human Creativity in the Age of Machine Intelligence

This course explores what it means to be human in the era of artificial intelligence. The theoretical framework of the course takes inspiration from the “uncanny valley,” a concept in robotics and human-robot interaction that describes the sense of unease or discomfort people feel when they encounter an artificial entity that looks and acts almost, but not quite, human. Accordingly, we set out to examine how AI unsettles the boundaries between human and machinic models of intelligence. The course draws on critical debates in computer science, contemporary art, film, philosophy and technology studies. Some of the key questions that we will address include: How does AI reshape human models of cognition, creativity and intelligence? In what ways does the field of artistic production serve as a crucial Turing test for AI? As images become increasingly operational and less perceptible, how should human visual literacy evolve? Should we be taught to "read" operational images differently from traditional images? What might artist-led experiments with AI have to teach us about the epistemological and ethical challenges opened up by the rapid and unpredictable development of machine learning systems?

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Department-Specific Course Categories

Art History