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Arts & Communication Artificial intelligence and art

works produced by AI are not new artworks, it may be Consequently, 3D computer imaging imitates the
necessary to clarify what constitutes novelty (novum) in art. look of classical cinema, complete with film grain,
The concept of novelty (novum) in art has gained computer-based virtual spaces usually look like
prominence since the mid-19 century. Modern art, something which was already built in reality, flash
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unlike earlier esthetics, is associated with the idea that animations on the web imitate old video graphics, and
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art is a means for creating something new (novum). the web itself combines the layouts of pre-computer
Theodor W. Adorno asserts that the “new” is a blind spot print media with moving images, which follow the
and emphasizes the lack of knowledge about the abstract already established conventions of film and television,
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nature of novelty in art. He argues that the concept of the and so on.
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new is more of a negative than an affirmation and that Lev Manovich observes that new media produced by
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it holds the potential to be infinite. The realization of computers is designed to resemble old media. The avant-
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the novum occurs when the artist engages with otherness garde of today is characterized by the methods of media
radically. This does not mean that the artist never begins access, manipulation, and analysis methods based on
with an idea or concept; rather, it emphasizes that the idea computer technology. While the ways these forms can be
is merely the starting point and will evolve throughout used vary greatly, the forms themselves remain consistent.
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the process, with the final result possibly diverging from Manovich notes that we transition from the new visions,
the initial conception. For example, the painter is free to typographies, and architectures of the 1920s to the new
decide what to retain and what to overpaint at each step of media of the 1990s. This shift is exemplified by moving
the painting process. from “a man with a movie camera” to a user equipped with a
search engine, image analysis, and visualization programs.
Boris Groys offers contemporary interpretations of
novelty (novum). According to Groys, a reproduction is Furthermore, cinema, once the technology of seeing, is
perceived as potentially duplicated from the outset due replaced by the computer, which serves as the technology
to its lack of authenticity, rendering it placeless, virtual, of memory. This evolution transforms the avant-garde
and ahistorical. Groy suggests that Benjamin’s distinction into software, transitioning from defamiliarization to
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between an original and a reproduction not only allows for information design.
the possibility of creating a reproduction from an original Harold Cohen’s work highlights that machines’
but also for creating an original from a reproduction. This is creative potential lies in their unique partnerships with
exemplified when all documents in the installation, despite humans rather than in their inherent artistic abilities.
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being placeless, virtual, and ahistorical, become originals. This perspective is echoed in the experiments of artist
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Rukavina points out that Groys’ thought is significant for Leonel Moura, who, during the late 1990s and early 2000s,
understanding the concept of creativity in the context of experimented with robotic art and AI. Moura developed
contemporary art. However, Groys’ explanation of how an mobile robots that draw shapes based on color density,
original can emerge from a reproduction does not resolve drawing inspiration from a tradition of artists who have
the problem of novelty (novum) in art, which remains an sought to separate esthetic judgments from personal
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unexplained value. 49 knowledge and narrow preferences. In modern art
Lev Manovich states that the term “new” re-emerged history, there are several instances of accidental creations,
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in the 1990s, shifting from being associated with specific coincidental finds, and unintentional procedures. It is
media, such as print, cinema, or photography, to being linked significant to note that Moura does not care if his artwork
with the media in general. This led to the emergence of the is created by machines or not as long as it is approved by
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term “new media” emerged as a result, which colloquially the art world’s gatekeepers.
referred to new cultural forms distributed through digital These observations raise the question of whether novum
computers, such as computer games, websites, compact in art is a qualitative or quantitative characteristic. The
disk read-only memory, and digital versatile disk-read only distinction between novum and added actuality is essential
memory, hypertext, and hypermedia apps. This phrase also for understanding whether AI can create novum. Novum is
conveyed a sense of radical cultural innovation. However, a qualitative value, contrasting with narrativeness, which
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according to Manovich, new media is still rooted in old relies more on adding “actualities” than on oscillating
media in terms of cultural languages. The computer between artwork’s corporality and reference. Narrativeness
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seems to have reinforced pre-existing forms rather than facilitated the method of computer-generated “artworks”
catalyzing the emergence of new ones. Manovich questions because this type of rationalized language can exist without
how to interpret the lack of radically new forms in a culture speech. It operates with the artwork’s parts-as-information.
that is rapidly and extensively computerizing: 52 In cases of narrativity, the “novelty” of the work is

Volume 3 Issue 2 (2025) 7 doi: 10.36922/ac.3311