Artificial Intelligence in Contemporary Art Practices

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Published: 2026-06-28
Keywords:
artificial intelligence; contemporary art; generative art; authorship; human–AI collaboration; datasets; cultural ethics

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Mr. Kunal Deshmukh
Research Scholar, Centre for Wildlife Ecology and Biodiversity Studies, Central Academy of Life Sciences, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India.

Abstract

Artificial intelligence is increasingly used by artists to analyze collections, produce visual or sonic material, build interactive installations and test new forms of collaboration. This narrative review examines how AI changes contemporary art practices without treating generation as a complete account of artistic creation. It distinguishes algorithmic and machine-learning processes, describes human decisions in selecting data and outputs, and considers examples from creative adversarial network research, an AI-associated auction work and Refik Anadol’s museum installation. Two tables map methods to artistic choices and ethical concerns. A timeline image presents documented milestones; it is historical context, not a measure of adoption. The discussion addresses attribution, consent in training data, cultural representation, labor and the role of institutions. Current evidence supports viewing AI as a set of situated tools and materials whose artistic meaning depends on people, histories, audiences and exhibition settings [1–6].

Article Details

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2026)

Section

Articles

References

[1] Hertzmann, A. (2018). Can Computers Create Art? Arts, 7(2), 18. https://doi.org/10.3390/arts7020018

[2] Cetinic, E., & She, J. (2022). Understanding and Creating Art with AI: Review and Outlook. ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications, and Applications, 18(2), Article 66. https://doi.org/10.1145/3475799

[3] Elgammal, A., Liu, B., Elhoseiny, M., & Mazzone, M. (2017). CAN: Creative Adversarial Networks, Generating “Art” by Learning About Styles and Deviating from Style Norms. Proceedings of the International Conference on Computational Creativity. https://arxiv.org/abs/1706.07068

[4] Christie’s. (2018). The first piece of AI-generated art to come to auction. https://www.christies.com/about-us/features/A-collaboration-between-two-artists-one-human-one-a-machine-9332-7.aspx

[5] Museum of Modern Art. (2022–2023). Refik Anadol: Unsupervised. https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5535

[6] UNESCO Independent Expert Group on AI and Culture. (2025). Report on Artificial Intelligence and Culture. https://www.unesco.org/sites/default/files/medias/fichiers/2025/09/CULTAI_Report%20of%20the%20Independent%20Expert%20Group%20on%20Artificial%20Intelligence%20and%20Culture%20%28final%20online%20version%29%201.pdf

Article type: narrative review; no original artist survey or quantitative adoption dataset is claimed.