Artificial Intelligence and Art History

Catalog description

This course provides students with an introduction to the history of artistic and art historical applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) from the earliest examples of "creative" automata to contemporary Machine Learning (ML) models for image-generation and image-analysis. Along with becoming familiar with the history of AI in relation to art and art history, students will be introduced to the history of such concepts as artistic genius, originality, aesthetics, and copyright. New museum practices that utilize AI for collections management and enhanced visitor experiences will be addressed. Students will also discover how ML models for image-generation, such as diffusion models like DALL-E and its successors, are affecting the art market. The aesthetic and art historical significance of blockchain and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) will also be considered. The course will draw on philosophical and historical texts as well as novels, comics, films, and t.v. shows. This is a humanities course that presumes no prior technical training or experience with ML or computer vision.