ANTI-AI ARCHIVE
RESEARCH GUIDE

How can “Can AI make art?” become a research question?

ANTI-AI ARCHIVE · LUOCAO / CHEN HAOHAO

Break the value judgment into questions that can be investigated: who receives credit, whose labour is visible, how does a work enter a competition or exhibition, and which rules guide an institution’s response? The cases below support comparisons of award refusals, open letters, platform policies and debates over copyright scope. Recording a position is not an endorsement or a judgment on the artistic value of every AI-related work.

RELATED SOURCE IMAGE
Original Figure 4 from Noll’s Human or Machine: the Mondrian and computer-generated picture pair presented to participants. The comparison is preserved as published.View full image ↗

Original Figure 4 from Noll’s Human or Machine: the Mondrian and computer-generated picture pair presented to participants. The comparison is preserved as published.

© A. Michael Noll 1965; © Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller · Chilton Computing archive

Source · Human or Machine: A Subjective Comparison of Piet Mondrian’s Composition with Lines and a Computer-Generated Picture ↗

Related cases & evidence

These cases provide material for comparison and verification; no single source substantiates every claim in the guide.

CASE-0037

Boris Eldagsen / PSEUDOMNESIA award-refusal intervention ↗

Research is ongoing; collected events do not constitute a complete case history.

RELATED SOURCE IMAGE
Boris Eldagsen, PSEUDOMNESIA: The Electrician (2022), reproduced on the artist’s account of declining the 2023 photography award.View full image ↗

Boris Eldagsen, PSEUDOMNESIA: The Electrician (2022), reproduced on the artist’s account of declining the 2023 photography award.

© Boris Eldagsen; artist’s website

Source · Sony World Photography Awards 2023: artist’s account ↗
Read the case, chronology & documents ↗
CASE-0011

Christie’s / Augmented Intelligence and open letter ↗

Collected events and documents are linked in the timeline; the case history remains under research.

RELATED SOURCE IMAGE
An illustrative image of Alexander Reben’s Untitled Robot Painting, published in Christie’s sale announcement on 7 February 2025.View full image ↗

An illustrative image of Alexander Reben’s Untitled Robot Painting, published in Christie’s sale announcement on 7 February 2025.

Alexander Reben; image source: Christie’s

Source · Augmented Intelligence sale announcement ↗
Read the case, chronology & documents ↗
CASE-0072

Zarya of the Dawn / Review of comic copyright scope ↗

Research is ongoing; collected events do not constitute a complete case history.

RELATED SOURCE IMAGE
Kristina’s Zarya of the Dawn. Reproduced in Chen Haohao’s 2023 commentary.View full image ↗

Kristina’s Zarya of the Dawn. Reproduced in Chen Haohao’s 2023 commentary.

Rights retained by original creators; reproduction source: Chen Haohao’s 2023 commentary

Source · Disco and AI: Is the Movement Against AI a New Luddism? ↗
Read the case, chronology & documents ↗
CASE-0039

Procreate / Statement against introducing generative AI ↗

Research is ongoing; collected events do not constitute a complete case history.

RELATED SOURCE IMAGE
An image of digital drawing from Procreate’s statement against introducing generative AI.View full image ↗

An image of digital drawing from Procreate’s statement against introducing generative AI.

Procreate / Savage Interactive; rights retained by source

Source · Procreate’s position on AI ↗
Read the case, chronology & documents ↗

Original sources

SRC-0015

This research guide is written by the archive. Its Chinese and English texts may include AI-assisted translations and may not yet have received independent human review. Check historical claims and rights information against the original-language sources.

Citation & methodology

This topic is a selection and reading path, not an exhaustive history. Cite the relevant record and original source for specific claims. To cite this guide, give its title, URL and access date.

ANTI-AI ARCHIVE. How can “Can AI make art?” become a research question?. https://salondesrefuses.cn/en/topics/ai-art/guides/questions

Methodology & citation ↗

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AI art: a guide to practice, authorship and controversy ↗What does AI art refer to? ↗How does AI art history differ from using AI to study art history? ↗Further reading, sources & citation ↗Return to the selected card ↗Explore the full event chronology ↗