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Arts & Communication Digital AI transformation of the Chinese art industry

Bin discusses how AI has rapidly developed in recent influence the art industry. Advances in AI have led to
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years due to the government’s efforts toward network increased dissemination from a technological determinist
technology development and science and technology perspective, following the idea that technology advances
innovation. These efforts have led to the emergence of AI through internal logic and directly influences humans and
virtual characters, AI art, new artistic forms and aesthetic industries. 50,51 However, an opposing body of literature has
forms, and expansion of existing cultural spaces and argued that humans have agency when interacting with
artistic expression within the art industry. While some digiAI. Scholars have focused on digital art practices, 52-54
scholars have discussed Chinese art in relation to society artists’ creativity in these practices, 19,55 the relationships
and life, 31,32 this discussion needs to be updated. between artists and AI during creation processes, 20,42,55

Moreover, discussions on the art industry and the and how digiAI enhances artists’ creativity, efficiency, and
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integration of art and technology often focus on either the productivity. 20,55 For instance, Zhou and Lee explore how
final digital artwork or the technological foundations of AI fosters creativity alongside artists’ abilities to produce
digital art. For instance, a significant portion of literature creative outputs, noting that “ideation and filtering are
addresses digital aesthetics and techniques of digital art 33-35 necessary skills in the text-to-image process, giving rise
or AI art. 36-38 to ‘generative synesthesia’—the harmonious blending of
human exploration and AI exploitation to discover new
In terms of the digiAI transition in the art industry, creative work processes.” Mazzone and Elgammal explain
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scholars have highlighted the positive effects of digitization the affordances of partnering with AI for artistic creation as
on culture, particularly how digital platforms serve as follows: “We advocate for a connection between machine
gateways for cultural accessibility and how digitization creativity and art broadly defined as parallel to but not in
can unlock the economic potential of art. 39,40 Scholars have conflict with human artists and their emotional and social
also examined the integrative capacity of digital art, noting intentions of art making. Rather, we urge a partnership
its ability to connect different mediums (such as videos, between human and machine creativity when called for,
paintings, and games) and industries (such as music, film, seeing in this collaboration a means to maximize both
and theater). Ho argued that digital art can integrate partners’ creative strengths.” Mazzone and Elgammel
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multiple creative forms such as movies and television further argue that AI serves as a tool in art creation, where
programs, creating vast opportunities for economic “the artist presides over the process.” They also suggest
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and cultural growth in China. Paul echoed this idea by that research should focus on the entire creative process,
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suggesting that digital art serves as a tool and medium not only the final images, as this activity highlights artists’
enabling the “seamless combination of art forms and a agency and decision-making roles, such as curation and
blurring of the boundaries between different mediums.”
tweaking, within the creative process.
There are two contradicting discourses about the impact
of digiAI on art and artists. A technological determinist 4. Results
view of human relationships with nonhuman agents posits 4.1. Role of the government in promoting the
that AI and digital technologies are sentient, 42-44 and capable integration and use of digiAI in the Chinese
of creativity and may eventually replace human artists. 38,42,45 Academy of Sciences
Chatterjee proposes that AI develops sentience through
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deep learning architectures, while Lavelle and Husain Policies for the integration of digital technology into the
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argue that sentience emerges from programming and contemporary art industry were introduced in 2016. Since
computational power. Scholars such as Miller further then, the Chinese government has developed the cultural
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argue that AI possesses creativity, stating that as “a industry, viewing it as a crucial part of national economic
th
consequence of AI developments, machine creativity development. Since the 12 5-Year Plan period (2000 –
exhibits traits customarily assigned to humans.” Similarly, 2005), with the ongoing application of and advancements
Zeilinger 38,38 contends that AI is sufficiently creative to in digital technology, the integration of digital technology
produce art after being trained on sample material to learn into culture has progressively improved, giving rise to new
the core principles of artwork generation, posing a potential modes of digital culture created using these technologies.
threat to human artists and their livelihoods. Kasparov In its 13 5-Year Plan (2016 – 2020), China sought to align
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also claims that AI systems surpass human intelligence and with the global trend toward an “information society.” New
can autonomously complete the creative process through revolutions in technology and industry were underway,
deep learning and imitation of human behavior. characterized by a new trend toward industrialization
These theorists’ conceptions of the future after the and information technology adoption. The 13 5-Year
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digital transition suggest that technology will directly Plan identified AI as essential for economic growth and

Volume 3 Issue 2 (2025) 6 doi: 10.36922/ac.3822