Today we read the article “Can Machines Create Art”. What do we mean when we say something is art? What do we mean when we say something is creative? There is a truth to giving something time to reveal itself. Today, we reflected on these questions and the differences between the creative process of art versus the outcome of art which is the manifestation or result of a process. Because machines have entered our world and increasingly been put to use by creating new pieces of art or imitating historical pieces of art, we’re left with a moral dilemma — how can we judge and assign value to this new artistic creation? Is the genius assigned to the creation process or to the result? We spoke about our definitions of both creativity and art and because there is a spectrum of different definitions of each, we all have varying opinions of what creation and art mean. However, I generally agree with the idea that art is creating something out of nothing – and that can be done by both a human and a machine.
In dissecting this question, I am left with two more questions, which change my answer to the earlier questions.
1) What is the value of art towards the collective?
2) What is our organizing principle around our purpose as humans and how does art fit into that purpose?