Can everything become art, and can AI create art, so does that mean that AI will become everything.

The Nature of Art and AI: A Stoic Perspective

The rise of AI art generators like DALL-E and Midjourney has sparked vigorous debate. Can AI truly create art? Is art solely a human endeavor? As thinkers since Ancient Greece have pondered the essence of art, these questions intersect with core Stoic principles.

While AI can replicate artistic styles with increasing sophistication, true art requires intent and emotion. Marcus Aurelius stated “the soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.” Art is an extension of the human spirit — our struggles, hopes, and perspectives. AI lacks this inner life.

However, just as AI can beat grandmasters at chess, it may surpass humans in technical artistic skills. But skill alone does not make art. Picasso said “art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” AI cannot experience the joy, grief, or insight that motivates great art.

The Stoics valued virtue, reason and living in accord with nature. While AI can mimic art, it cannot perceive or be moved by beauty and meaning. Epictetus said “what is beautiful is beloved because it is beautiful.” AI algorithms simply generate patterns without deeper comprehension.

For the Stoics, the natural world reflected the divine. AI has no such reverence. Seneca said “reverence the highest, for what is highest includes all that is less.” AI cannot revere anything at all.

So while AI output may dazzle, true art requires a human soul. The intent, emotion, and awe distinguishing art from mere technique remain uniquely human qualities. As thinkers from Aristotle to Kant have recognized, art is rooted in the human spirit. No matter how skilled, AI lacks spirit and consciousness. So humanity’s place as the creator of true art remains secure.