AI as Art and Idolatry

Although most AI has been implemented in scientific or engineering applications, some AI is best seen as art. When AI is not merely model building-that is, when it makes machines that understand and display other human-like cognitive states then the result is verisimilitude, and AI becomes art. The standards by which we gauge the success of such systems depend upon how well they imitate humans, and not on their worth as models nor any scientific principle they might imply. This sort of AI often appears unsystematic that is, ad hoc from a scientific perspective. But why call this sort of AI “art”? It’s hard to say what qualifies as science. It’s also hard to say what qualifies as art. We’re not discussing art as aesthetics or as expressive creativity. Rather, we’re talking about AI as art in that it resembles realistic sculpture. Realistic sculpture and Turing-test strong AI are both crafted to imitate reality. Art helps us to see ourselves more clearly. Imitative, strong-AI systems help us to see ourselves reflected in machines. Statues imitate the human physique. AI systems imitate the human mentality.