Creatives Create Creators: When Artists Program Computers to Create Art

In recent years the field of AI has developed at a breathtaking pace. Thus, an increasing number of AI-based computer programs have emerged which are able to generate impressive images. Some of these images have even won art awards or have been sold at auctions. Since the first theories about intelligent machines, computer scientists, as well as artists wonder whether computers will be able to be as creative as humans. Today, it seems as if we have reached the tipping point at which AI-based computers might be able create works of art. The question is, however, who exactly is the creative force behind the AI-generated images? In this paper I want to discuss this question by looking at key figures of computer art history. Analyzing their artistic approach and the work generated by their computer programs, I want to identify who actually is the creative author of the generated images. My research has shown that computers are able to generate original images, but they do so without any intension. The creative authors, however, are yet the artists who create and revise the software programs until the results are of value and the viewers who interpret the images as work of art.