The Artistic [R]Evolution of AI

The AI-ARTS Manifesto

A declaration for artists, innovators and communities exploring art through artificial intelligence and emerging creative technologies.

AI-ARTS recognises AI-based art as a legitimate and significant form of artistic expression. We support work shaped by human intention, experimentation, judgement and sensitivity, and we believe artists using AI deserve serious recognition within the wider cultural field.

This manifesto sets out the values of an artist-led community committed to originality, interdisciplinary exploration, mutual respect, fairness, curiosity and democratic participation.

Join the AI-ARTS community

Original manifesto (July 2022)

The Artistic [R]Evolution of AI

We, the artists and innovators of the AI age, declare that AI-based art is a valuable and significant form of artistic expression, worthy of recognition and respect within the broader artistic community.

Some traditionalists dismiss AI-based art as soulless and devoid of creativity or human touch. We disagree. We embrace the boundless potential of AI to help create art that is sensitive, transformative and groundbreaking, and to extend the possibilities of human expression.

We believe that AI-based art is more than a means of producing aesthetically pleasing images or sounds. It is a new frontier of artistic exploration, where humans and machines collaborate to push the boundaries of what is possible in art.

Through AI, we can create art that reaches beyond familiar limits of perception and cognition, revealing patterns and structures that might otherwise remain hidden. We can generate work that is unpredictable, unique and original, where the process of creation is as important as the final result.

We reject the notion that AI-based art is a threat to human creativity. Instead, we celebrate the possibilities that arise when people and machines work together. We see AI as a means of expanding artistic horizons, allowing us to explore new forms, new media and new modes of expression.

We call on artists and art enthusiasts to join us in this artistic revolution: to embrace AI-based art as a valuable and meaningful form of artistic expression, and to respectfully challenge attempts to limit its creative potential.

Together, we can create a new era of democratic artistic exploration, where people with different creative talents can use technology to push the boundaries of what is possible in art.

Join us in this movement, and together let us shape the future of art.

Manifesto principles

What this manifesto asks of us.

These principles summarise how AI-ARTS turns the declaration into a shared artistic culture.

Recognition for AI artists

AI-based art deserves serious artistic attention and should be evaluated on its ideas, form, sensitivity, process and cultural contribution.

Human and AI collaboration

Human intention, judgement, selection, editing and context shape the work. AI can expand possibility without erasing the artist.

The machine is not the artist. The artist is not absent.

Process matters

Prompting, iteration, failure, curation, composition, writing, sound, movement and presentation can all be part of the artwork.

Originality beyond imitation

We value exploration over imitation and resist using new tools as shortcuts to reproduce other artists.

Interdisciplinary futures

AI art can move across visual art, literature, photography, film, music, performance, 3D and immersive media.

Democratic artistic exploration

We oppose unnecessary gatekeeping and support equitable opportunities for diverse artists, methods and perspectives.

Community values

A community for artists who do not fit old categories.

AI-ARTS welcomes artists who are curious, experimental and willing to challenge established boundaries. We value serious engagement without elitism: a community where different disciplines can meet, dissent can be expressed respectfully, and artists have room to develop their own voice.

curiosityoriginalityexperimentationinterdisciplinary exchangemutual respectfairnessnonconformitydemocratic participation

Join the movement

Together, let us shape the future of art.

Join a community that treats AI art seriously, values originality and process, welcomes interdisciplinary exploration and gives artists room to challenge established boundaries.

Join the AI-ARTS community

AI-ARTS.ORG and Empirical Cultures

Artistic practice and cultural research in dialogue.

AI-ARTS is the public, artist-facing community and cultural programme. Empirical Cultures is a research-led cultural technology initiative examining how AI and digital systems reshape cultural production, authorship, interpretation, provenance, institutional practice and public trust. AI-ARTS provides a live setting in which these questions can be encountered through artists, competitions, publications, documentation and digital exhibition.

Visit Empirical Cultures

Practice-based inquiry

Real artistic programmes reveal questions about creative process, authorship, evaluation and public interpretation.

Responsible cultural technology

Empirical develops methods for rights, provenance, review, documentation and clear public communication.

Immersive and public contexts

Its work also considers AR, VR and WebXR for exhibition, archive access and public engagement, without making technology the centre of the art.

Free for the AI arts community

AI-ARTS and its public art site are free.

The free foundation has supported AI artists for the last four years, and will continue to do so.

The platform is free for AI artists and the community. Additional features can be provided when you need more capacity, larger file uploads, a dedicated domain, or specialised features to support your practice.

Organisations can use the free platform tools for competitions, open calls, and galleries. Enhanced features are available for larger programmes that require more capacity, additional domains, or advanced functionality.