Art in the Age of Artificial Reproduction: Creativity, Ethics and Responsibility in Mobile AI Uses

Whether Artificial Intelligence (AI) has added a radical new chapter in the artistic creation of unique expressions, or ended art itself– a question that concerns the age-old poetics in Aesthetics, and is similar to those concerns raised by the Frankfurt School in the dawn of the culture industry. On the one hand, AI, in the context of the seemingly decentralised nature of mobile consumption channels, opens a door for the democratisation of art. On the other hand, the emerging patterns of bias in generative AI reproductions, data theft, gatekeeping and digital dictatorship problematise AI’s role in the freedom and security of artistic expressions. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, this study thus aims to find a median position and negotiate the creative potential of AI in human artistic endeavours and the ethical concerns that follow, as well as map the sustainable practices that ensure transparency, accountability, and artistic freedom. Since understanding the medium is as paramount as understanding its users, the study surveys the creative application of AI and the awareness of its ethical implications in mobile-uses context while deciphering what users consider as art. Furthermore, through a qualitative analysis of the responses alongside the critical evaluation of some of the treaties of post-industrial aesthetics, this study aims to examine the similarities and dissimilarities between traditional artistic methods and machine-learning reproductions. This way, the study seeks to balance the debate on AI’s role in artistic expression and define the poetics of this rapidly digitalised 21st century. Keywords: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Aesthetics, Creativity, Ethics, Mobile, Culture Industry, Artificial Reproduction, Machine-learning