# Can Computers Create Art?

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1801.04486 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1801.04486/

## Key facts

- Cited by 18 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 13 Jan 2018.

## Built on by (most cited first, 18 of 18)

- [Art and the science of generative AI: A deeper dive](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.04141/) (2023)
- [Understanding and Creating Art with AI: Review and Outlook](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.09109/) (2021)
- [ConceptLab: Creative Concept Generation using VLM-Guided Diffusion Prior Constraints](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.02669/) (2023)
- [pOps: Photo-Inspired Diffusion Operators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.01300/) (2024)
- [Creative Data Generation: A Review Focusing on Text and Poetry](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.08493/) (2023)
- [Automatic analysis of artistic paintings using information-based measures](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.01767/) (2021)
- [VLM-Guided Adaptive Negative Prompting for Creative Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.10715/) (2025)
- [Imaginative Walks: Generative Random Walk Deviation Loss for Improved Unseen Learning Representation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.09757/) (2021)
- [Object Retrieval and Localization in Large Art Collections using Deep Multi-Style Feature Fusion and Iterative Voting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.06935/) (2021)
- [Controllable Multi-domain Semantic Artwork Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.10111/) (2023)
- [Continual Zero-Shot Learning through Semantically Guided Generative Random Walks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.12366/) (2023)
- [From Sound to Sight: Towards AI-authored Music Videos](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.00029/) (2025)
- [Everyone Can Be Picasso? A Computational Framework into the Myth of Human versus AI Painting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.07999/) (2023)
- [Artificial Intelligence for Geometry-Based Feature Extraction, Analysis and Synthesis in Artistic Images: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.01450/) (2024)
- [Inspiration Seeds: Learning Non-Literal Visual Combinations for Generative Exploration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.08615/) (2026)
- [Mimesis, Poiesis, and Imagination: Exploring Text-to-Image Generation of Biblical Narratives](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.02973/) (2025)
- [Beyond Compliance: How AI Could Help Creative Writers by Refusing Them](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.16272/) (2026)
- [Collective creativity in hybrid societies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.02620/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This essay discusses whether computers, using Artificial Intelligence (AI), could create art. First, the history of technologies that automated aspects of art is surveyed, including photography and animation. In each case, there were initial fears and denial of the technology, followed by a blossoming of new creative and professional opportunities for artists. The current hype and reality of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools for art making is then discussed, together with predictions about how AI tools will be used. It is then speculated about whether it could ever happen that AI systems could be credited with authorship of artwork. It is theorized that art is something created by social agents, and so computers cannot be credited with authorship of art in our current understanding. A few ways that this could change are also hypothesized.