AI as Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a transformative force in society. Narratives surrounding AI tend to be either extremely positive or negative in nature, affecting the further integration of AI in society. In order to counter such dominant narratives, underexplored and ‘missing narratives’ should be uncovered. This study investigates the narratives surrounding AI and creativity within the art sector, aiming to explore the multifaceted perspectives on AI's role in artistic creation. By examining a broad range of articles from leading art magazines, major news outlets, and art institutions, this research seeks to understand AI narratives in the context of creativity and art. It does so through two key concepts that have led the academic debate on the society-technology relation for a long time: technological determinism and social constructivism. Ultimately, it is the aim of this research to explore how these two core academic concepts hold up in the renewed context of AI in the art world, answering the research question: “How do the theoretical constructs of technological determinism and social constructivism manifest in narratives on the relation between AI and creativity within the art sector?”. Forming the basis of this research, the answer to this main research question led to further implications about the broader academic debate on society and technology. This leads to the first sub-question: “How can these narratives give new insights into the long-established academic debate on the relationship between technology and society?”. Additionally, the discovered narratives could be compared to dominant existing AI narratives, answering the second sub-question: “Are these narratives on AI and creativity different from other AI narratives uncovered so far? And how?”. To address these questions, the study employs thematic analysis on online published articles from newspapers, art magazines, and editorial of art institution websites, including museums, auction houses and art fairs. The analysis revealed six major narratives. These are: 1) transformative potential, 2) a creative partner, 3) a mere tool, 4) art without a soul, 5) autonomous artist, 6) a disruptive force. Interpretations of these narratives resulted in three main implications. First, the study concludes that these narratives reflect a nuanced merging of technological determinism and social constructivism, supporting the idea that these two concepts are not opposing forces, but rather function as a continuum. Second, with human and AI autonomy shifting through different encounters, the significance of autonomy in the relation between humans and AI is questioned. A redirection towards ‘relationality’ is proposed. Third, the findings suggest that the art world is a fertile ground for exploring new AI narratives that offer nuanced perspectives, able to counter dominant extremist narratives, and help to start taking a ‘narrative responsibility’.