EVENTS

About the lecture

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About the speaker

Jocelyn Maclure is Full Professor of Philosophy and Jarislwosky Chair in Human Nature and Technology at McGill University. His current work addresses various topics in the philosophy of artificial intelligence and in social epistemology. In 2023, he was Mercator Visiting Professor for AI in the Human Context at the University of Bonn. His recent articles appeared in journals such as Minds & Machines, AI & Ethics, AI & Society and Digital Society. He was the president of the Quebec Ethics in Science and Technology Commission—and advisory body of the Quebec Government—from 2017 to 2024. Before turning his attention to the philosophy of AI, he published extensively in moral and political philosophy, including, with Charles Taylor, Secularism and Freedom of Conscience (Harvard University Press (2011). He was elected to the Royal Society of Canada in 2023.

The talk explores the question of whether Artificial Intelligence (AI) can truly create art, or if there is an essential “human factor” in art production. Against the background of AI’s growing capabilities, traditional concepts in art theory like authorship are reconsidered. It is argued that authorship is a necessary condition for art, while aesthetic responsibility is at least a necessary condition for authorship of artworks. Although AI can function as an aesthetic agent, it cannot bear aesthetic responsibility. Therefore, it can neither on its own nor in cooperation with humans be the author of artworks. However, AI is able to produce objects that are in their manifest properties indistinguishable from works of art, I will speak of “fake art.” It will be shown to what extent the massive occurrence of AI-generated fake art has a detrimental effect on art practice.