Abstract
The paper challenges the persistent skepticism toward AI’s creative capabilities, which often hinges on the assumption that human traits, such as inspiration, intuition, consciousness, spontaneity, will, or emotion, are a prerequisite for creativity. This line of argumentation relies on an anthropomorphic approach that is unable to imagine/accept non-human modes of perception, cognition, and agency. Instead, the study suggests adopting what Ian Bogost calls “alien phenomenology,” viewing AI as possessing its own non-human intelligence. Adopting methods from apophatic theology allows for a better appreciation of this “alien” intelligence. In theological thinking and religious practice, apophatic (or negative) theology, is defined as a way of approaching the Divine, not through defining its qualities, but rather via negation, emphasizing what lies beyond human understanding. Posthumanist positions, especially as articulated by the feminist scholar Donna Haraway, who argues that technological extensions are an inseparable part of human existence, further scrutinize the concept of authorship. In this light, authorship should no longer be seen as a binary quality, either human or machine, but as a spectrum—one that I call the human-artificial continuum. In this “gray authorship,” the extend of human participation cannot be fully distinguished from that of the machine.
Presenters
Vahid VahdatAssistant Professor, School of Design & Construction, Washington State University, WA, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Design, Architecture
