Abstract
Since Baumgarten formally defined “aesthetics” in the 18th century, the term has been widely discussed in the fields of art and philosophy. In the early 20th century, Walter Benjamin argued that the mechanized modes of production introduced by the industrial revolution caused artworks to lose their “aura,” marking the first time aesthetics was subjected to scrutiny through the lens of technology. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) a century later develops the challenge further: Is AI art similarly devoid of an aura (i.e., aesthetics)? If not, what form does its aesthetics take, and does it differ from that of art produced during the era of mechanical reproduction? With these questions in mind, the authors embark on an exploration of the aesthetics of art in the age of AI, as well as recent trends in the development of artistic aesthetics.