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Abstract
The concept of AI in aesthetics is encountering interest as new algorithmic machines now generate visual works alongside philosophical discourse, sparking both enthusiasm and concern. Yet, this idea has deep roots, reflected in longstanding debates within the discipline. These discussions, which are similar to the new ones, have examined issues like the illusion of an image or object’s ontological stability; the nature of function and user control; distinctions between the natural and artificial, authenticity and forgery; the divide between handmade and mass-produced items; the challenges of readymade and indiscernibility in art; and the potential of ekphrasis. As a result, skepticism emerges toward claims about an essential transformation in the field of aesthetics. The essay presents the claim that this dialectic structure of newness, which reveals sameness in our being as exposed by aesthetic AI, can be well explained by what I name ‘visualism.’ Visualist philosophy characterizes us as primarily constituted by external-visual ontology and experiences, rather than by well-ordered rational and conceptual schemes. Visualism follows the visual turn that identifies the dominance of the visual sphere as the proper field for studying our essence, ontology, and culture. Accordingly, I argue that generative aesthetic AI is naturally subsumed under what visualism identifies as the essence of the visual—its resonant vitality and the always-emergent properties and affordances of visual artifacts, be they art, design, or any sort of imagery, that cannot be preconceptualized or planned from the outset.