From Dalì to DALL-E: Notes on Creativity, Visual Arts, and Algorithms

In this paper the evolving interplay between human creativity and artificial intelligence (AI) in the realm of visual arts is explored. Tracing the trajectory from the inception of transformative technologies like writing to the digital revolution, the paper delves into how AI challenges and redefines the boundaries of artistic creation. By examining the implications of machine learning algorithms, the text questions the unique relationship humans have with technology, suggesting that creativity may also extend to machines. Importantly, machine creativity is not conceived as the emulation of human capacities but as a full expression of machinic functioning where the human is subtracted from the loop. The paper proposes a critical analysis of the notion of creativity in the age of AI, inviting a reevaluation of our understanding of artistic production and the potential for a new form of extended writing that includes AI as a creative partner.