Deep Mining Authorship

Abstract

AbstractConsidering the emerging field of architecture and artificial intelligence, it might be necessary to contemplate the remodeling of the concept of authorship entirely. The invention of authorship is a complex historical process that can be traced back to the emergence of print culture in Europe in the 15th century. Prior to this period, most literary and artistic works were created anonymously or attributed to collective or anonymous sources, such as folklore or religious traditions. However, with the rise of printing, texts became more easily reproducible and marketable, and there emerged a need for individual authors to take credit for their works. The notion of authorship was closely tied to the idea of originality and ownership, as authors sought to assert their exclusive rights to their works and to distinguish themselves from other writers. This was supported by the development of copyright law, which granted legal protection to authors and their works, and helped to establish a market for literary and artistic works. The idea of the author as a singular, autonomous figure gained further prominence in the 18th and 19th centuries, with the emergence of romanticism and the cult of the individual. This period saw the rise of the idea of the artist as a genius, whose works were the product of their own unique creativity and imagination. This idea was further reinforced by the rise of literary criticism, which focused on the interpretation and analysis of individual works and their authors. However, as Michel Foucault and other scholars have argued, the notion of authorship is not a universal or timeless concept, but rather a historically contingent and culturally specific one. Different societies ad cultures have different understandings of authorship, and these have shifted over time in response to changes in technology, culture, and social values. As it stands now, authorship in its traditional form can hardly be applied in a context where automated collaborations provide more than 50% of the generated material. This is true for multiple art fields. Visual Arts (Mario Klingemann, Sofia Crespo, Memo Atken, Ooouch, etc.), Music (Dadabots, YACHT, Holly Herndon), Literature, etc. Very soon this will also be true for Architecture. The consequence is also an entire rethinking of the concept of the sole genius. This notion, developed by German Romanticists in the early 19th century, is, in the current context of AI-assisted creativity, completely obsolete, as we are drawing from the genius of hundreds of thousands of artists and artworks in order to interrogate the latent space for unseen artistic opportunities. More akin to an archeological dig leading to the discovery of a next-generation jet fighter plane.