Artificial Intelligence and Neural Style Transfer in the Context of Art and Design: Ethical and Anticipated Ethical Issues

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From the shape of our cellphones, the colorful packaging on our foods, to the material in our clothing, every object around us typically has some kind of element of design associated with it. Design is concerned with how users interact with the objects around them. This analysis will be concerned with identifying how AI is being applied in three main categories of design: functional design, visceral design, and behavioral design. Functional designs prioritize the function of objects over form. Visceral designs are concerned with issues of the pure aesthetics of objects. Behavioral designs influence users to act based upon the design of an object, whether it pertains to purchasing the item or using the item in a preferred way. In this analysis, an overlap of these categories will be analyzed through the lens of traditional paintings. A painting reflects a story told by an artist which allows for a variety of interpretations by the perceivers of the artwork. However, what happens when Artificial Intelligence (AI) is used in conjunction with painting? AI when applied to painting uses art-related generative algorithms, and neural networks, which are adapted from models for processing data. AI relies on this type of model to complete in the case of painting, the use of a Neural Style Transfer (NST) to compose a new object of art while employing the style of another artist. Through the lenses of generative AI’s current application and implications related to its future use, this analysis will provide an extensive overview of the convergence of technology, art, and design. This discussion will also address potential ethical and future ethical concerns about authorship, originality, the value of AI-generated art, and the impact on traditional practices of Art and Design from the perspective of painting. As AI technology related to the creation of art continues to develop, anticipatory ethics will attempt to identify ethical issues with this continued development of generative AI in the area of art.