Art in the Age of Machine Intelligence: From Cybernetics to Generative AI

How do machines see? Artists have long imagined machine vision through codes, algorithms, and feedback systems. This talk traces the evolution of art’s engagement with machine intelligence, from the cybernetic experiments of the 1960s to today’s data-driven installations. Beginning with Harold Cohen’s pioneering program AARON and Vera Molnár’s algorithmic drawings, the lecture follows artists who reimagined creativity through computation. It then considers contemporary practices by Trevor Paglen, Hito Steyerl, Pierre Huyghe, Anicka Yi, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Sasha Stiles, and Refik Anadol. Engaging recent exhibitions such as Jeu de Paume’s The World Through AI, the talk reconsiders art as an interface between human, machine, and environment.

Eana Kim is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the History of Art and Design at Pratt Institute. She specializes in the intersections of contemporary art, technology, and science, and has published widely as a critic and scholar, with recent writing in Artforum, Flash Art, The Brooklyn Rail, and ARTnews, among others. Before joining Pratt, she held curatorial positions at the Museum of Modern Art and NYU’s Grey Art Museum, contributing to major exhibitions including Jack Whitten: The Messenger and Signals: How Video Transformed the World. She is currently developing a book project on nonhuman intelligence in living-organism-based art.