Ways of Seeing, and Selling, AI Art
Imke van Heerden
TL;DR
This paper investigates how AI-generated artworks achieve cultural legitimacy within the traditional art market by examining Christie’s Augmented Intelligence sale through the lens of framing and context. It combines empirical auction data with theoretical insights on ways of seeing to analyze how authorship narratives, materiality, and performance shape perceived artistic merit and economic value. The work highlights the central role of exhibition design, provenance, and the hybridization of digital and physical media in sustaining a controversial yet financially significant AI art ecosystem. It argues for responsible innovation that protects creators’ rights and clarifies attribution, while acknowledging the market’s reliance on framing to translate novelty into value.
Abstract
In early 2025, Augmented Intelligence - Christie's first AI art auction - drew criticism for showcasing a controversial genre. Amid wider legal uncertainty, artists voiced concerns over data mining practices, notably with respect to copyright. The backlash could be viewed as a microcosm of AI's contested position in the creative economy. Touching on the auction's presentation, reception, and results, this paper explores how, among social dissonance, machine learning finds its place in the artworld. Foregrounding responsible innovation, the paper provides a balanced perspective that champions creators' rights and brings nuance to this polarised debate. With a focus on exhibition design, it centres framing, which refers to the way a piece is presented to influence consumer perception. Context plays a central role in shaping our understanding of how good, valuable, and even ethical an artwork is. In this regard, Augmented Intelligence situates AI art within a surprisingly traditional framework, leveraging hallmarks of "high art" to establish the genre's cultural credibility. Generative AI has a clear economic dimension, converging questions of artistic merit with those of monetary worth. Scholarship on ways of seeing, or framing, could substantively inform the interpretation and evaluation of creative outputs, including assessments of their aesthetic and commercial value.