Artist Kim Ahyoung: "The Nature of Art Will Change with the Advancement of AI Technology"

Kim Ahyoung: "It is premature to call AI-generated works art"
First Korean recipient of the LG Guggenheim Award

"The nature of art is bound to undergo fundamental changes before and after the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) technology."

Media artist Kim Ahyoung, winner of the 3rd LG Guggenheim Award, made this statement during a press conference held at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, United States, on May 8 (local time). She said, "When photography was invented at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, painting and sculpture, which had served the purpose of representation, lost their function, and only then did modern art begin to emerge."

Just as the development of photography led art to evolve from imitation to a form reflecting the artist's autonomy, it is expected that the advancement of AI will bring significant changes to art history.

However, Kim expressed the view that works created solely by AI, without human involvement, cannot possess artistic value.

She stated, "AI can be an excellent tool to assist in creation, but it completely lacks the most fundamental conditions of art: the artist's intention, the pain experienced during the creative process, and the profound contemplation that comes from within the artist." She added that it is "premature" to recognize creations made exclusively by AI as art.

Nevertheless, Kim explained that technology and art cannot be separated.

She said, "With the development of platforms such as social networking services (SNS), it is said that individuals in modern society have more than eight different selves. As technology advances, increasingly complex networks are formed, and realism alone cannot capture the many layers involved. By utilizing technology, it is possible to realize these complex layers."

The LG Guggenheim Award is the flagship program of the 'LG Guggenheim Art & Tech Partnership' established between LG and the Guggenheim Museum. It is presented to artists who drive innovation in the field of creativity through the use of technology. Kim has been creating media art works that combine cutting-edge technologies such as AI and virtual reality (VR). She is the first Korean artist to be selected as a recipient of the LG Guggenheim Award.

LG will screen a congratulatory video featuring scenes from Kim's representative work, the 'Delivery Dancer' series, on its electronic billboard in Times Square, New York, until May 25. This work depicts the interactions between female riders and AI in a city where delivery platforms have become a part of everyday life since the COVID-19 pandemic.

An LG representative stated, "For Kim, technology is not only a medium for her works but also a subject. In this sense, her approach resonates with LG, as both carefully consider the experiences and emotions of people encountering new technologies and reflect on the direction technology should pursue." The representative added, "With the LG Guggenheim Award, Kim is now establishing herself as a global artist, and we look forward to her even more influential journey ahead."