Can Computers Create Art?

This essay discusses whether computers, using Artificial Intelligence (AI), could create art. The first part concerns AI-based tools for assisting with art making. The history of technologies that automated aspects of art is covered, including photography and animation. In each case, we see initial fears and denial of the technology, followed by a blossoming of new creative and professional opportunities for artists. The hype and reality of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools for art making is discussed, together with predictions about how AI tools will be used. The second part speculates about whether it could ever happen that AI systems could conceive of artwork, and be credited with authorship of an artwork. It is theorized that art is something created by social agents, and so computers cannot be credited with authorship of art in our current understanding. A few ways that this could change are also hypothesized.