Artificial Intelligence and The Future of Creative Authorship

Abstract

The rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence tools capable of generating visual art, literary text, and musical compositions has fundamentally challenged longstanding assumptions about creativity, authorship, and artistic originality. This article examines the philosophical, legal, and ethical implications of AI-generated creative works by drawing on scholarship from aesthetics, computer science, intellectual property law, and art criticism. It traces the debate over whether machines can be genuinely creative, interrogates the copyright and ownership challenges posed by generative algorithms, and evaluates the impact of AI on artistic practice and education. The analysis argues that the future of creative authorship lies not in a binary opposition between human and machine but in collaborative frameworks that leverage the distinctive strengths of both, requiring new legal, pedagogical, and aesthetic paradigms to navigate the transformative potential of AI in the arts.