What Counts as Art?

https://www.youtube.com/embed/mb3uK-_QkOo?rel=0

Are video games art? Can AI make art? What even counts as art?

I want to be clear, I agree with Brandon wholeheartedly. Art is just as much about how it changes the artist as it is about how the viewer appreciates it. As he says, "You are the art."

I don't think this definition is nearly broad enough — my go-to definition is the extreme "anything that makes you feel something", which means AI generated slop is definitely art because it makes me feel rage — but I think it's an instructive lens.

For example, I'd count this incredible undertaking as art. Undeniably, AI was merely used as a tool to implement the vision for this piece, and the write up makes it clear that the human had to make a lot of decisions and tradeoffs as part of the process. The artist was changed by the art.

Video Games as Art

This is a great lens as well, and similar to Brandon's — how does the art change the viewer that engages with it? Does our mindset shift because of the art? Do we see the world differently?

Back to the isomorphic NYC, I love this line at the end:

Counterintuitively, that’s my biggest reason to be optimistic about AI and creativity. When hard parts become easy, the differentiator becomes love.