People can perceive emotions in artificial intelligence-generated art, a study suggests. While man-made artwork elicits stronger emotional responses, the findings suggest that both types of art have emotional depth, prompting further exploration of the human-AI artistic dynamic.However, man-made art received a more positive review.
Computers and artificial intelligence (AI) are becoming increasingly important in the art world. Artificial intelligence-generated artworks sell for millions of dollars at auction, with artists often using algorithms to create aesthetic content. Now, experiments conducted by a team of researchers at the University of Vienna show that, contrary to popular intuition, people perceive emotions and intentions when viewing works of art, even when they know the work was computer-generated. The research was recently published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.
In a new study, a team from the University of Vienna, in collaboration with Humboldt University Berlin led by Theresa Demer, investigated whether people respond emotionally to or perceive the intent of art they perceive to be computer-generated. The researchers showed participants abstract black-and-white artwork and explained that the artwork was either randomly generated by a computer or intentionally created by a human to evoke emotion.
"For computer-generated images, we avoid using artificial intelligence or self-learning algorithms trained on human-generated images, opting instead to use very simple algorithms. The goal of this approach is to produce images that are completely independent of human influence, striving to be as free from human bias as possible," explains Demmer. No part of the study addresses the technical subject of whether and when computers can create art that looks indistinguishable from human-created art.
Before viewing each piece of art, participants were told whether it had been created by a computer or a human—information that was true half of the time. Participants were then asked to rate the artwork along several dimensions. In addition, they were asked to indicate the emotions they personally experienced when viewing the artwork, the emotions they believed the artwork was intended to evoke in the viewer, and the emotions (if any) they believed the artist themselves felt when creating the artwork.
The results showed that participants almost always experienced some emotion and perceived some degree of intentionality.
This study thus provides new empirical evidence that people can form emotional attachments to computer-generated art. So, contrary to common assumptions, people appear to be able to perceive emotions and intentions even when they know something was created by a computer. However, if the artwork was actually created by a human, they showed stronger emotions and rated the artwork more positively - even if they were given the false information that the artwork was computer-generated. Therefore, the results also show that there are still subtle but significant differences in the emotional impact of human and artificial art. This may point to specific characteristics of man-made art as perceived by viewers.
Overall, these results raise new questions about human-computer interaction and the growing role of artificial intelligence as a creative entity in art, design, and entertainment. How do humans respond to more complex artworks generated by AI? What characteristics, if any, can humans distinguish between computer-generated art and human-generated art? Further research is needed to understand the complex relationship between humans and machines in this field.