The Human in the Loop: Artificial Intelligence as a Co-Pilot in the Creative Process of the Artists. A Critical Analysis in Visual Arts

The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the visual arts represents a significant shift in contemporary creative practices, prompting urgent questions about the nature of art, the role of the artist, and the boundaries of human-machine collaboration (Cetinic & She, 2023; Rooij, 2024). This paper investigates how generative AI technologies are reshaping the visual arts, with a particular focus on their influence on the creative process (Miller 2019), the attribution of authorship, and audience perception. Adopting a thematic literature review methodology within an interdisciplinary framework—spanning art theory, media studies, and cognitive science—the research synthesizes key developments from 1975 to 2024. The literature covers a temporal span from the earliest seminal explorations of computer-aided art (Molnar, 1975) to the most recent advances in generative AI technologies and critical discourse (Chiodo, 2024; Messer, 2024). This diachronic range enables a comprehensive understanding of both the historical evolution and the contemporary debates surrounding AI's role in the visual arts. This research identifies and analyses three core conceptual themes emerging in the discourse. First, the ontology of AI- generated art interrogates the core concepts that address the definition of art, AI, and the links between them. Following a logical progression, the second theme that emerged presents the critical debates revolving around three central issues: authorship, originality, and intentionality (Floridi, 2021; Hertzmann, 2018; Chiodo, 2024). Finally, the review addresses the issue of audience perception, with particular attention to the cognitive bias that emerges when individuals evaluate artworks produced by AI (de Roji, 2024). This final theme is crucial for understanding not only how AI artworks are judged aesthetically but also how deep-rooted expectations about human creativity influence the reception of machine-generated art. By drawing a historical parallel to the initial resistance faced by photography in the 19th century (Hertzmann, 2001), the paper contextualizes the current scepticism toward AI art as part of a broader cultural negotiation of new media. The findings suggest that AI is not displacing human creativity but rather expanding its modalities—offering novel pathways for artistic exploration and expression. This study contributes to the academic debate by moving beyond polarized narratives of celebration or rejection, and instead, provides a nuanced, evidence-based reflection on the evolving dynamics between artists, machines, and audiences.