3.5
The Digital Aesthete: Human Musings on the Intersection of Art and AI
ByPublisher Description
Today's software can only imitate art, but what about tomorrow?
Will true artificial intelligences be able to appreciate or even create art? Explore dystopian societies, where AI generates most of the content and human artists must eke out an existence, and utopias, where artificial minds help unlock and enhance human creativity.
Delve into the minds of robot painters, AI poets, drone forgers, and electronic theater curators. These and other possible futures are imagined by award-winning and bestselling human authors from the USA, UK, China, Ukraine, Chile, Japan, Madagascar, Brazil, Czech Republic, and Sri Lanka.
"In this impressive collection, a star-studded lineup of 17 authors assembled by Shvartsman (Kakistocracy) raise angst-ridden questions about human-AI collaboration. ... This smart, kaleidoscopic view into the digital future will have readers longing to log off." - Publishers Weekly
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3.5
Michelle Graf
Created 7 months agoShare
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“Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape amedia for the advance listeners copy.
A range of good and okay stories about the future of AI. I felt like a lot of these didn't go as far with their concepts as I had hoped they would. Favorites were Silicon Hearts by Adrian Tchaikovsky, Good Stories by Ken Liu, Torso by H. Pueyo, and The Laugh Machine by Auston Habershaw.”Zana
Created about 1 year agoShare
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“This was a very interesting anthology which explores the use of technology (both sentient AI and language learning models) in various forms of art. Of course, like every anthology, there are the highs and lows.
But unlike every anthology, even the lows and average stories show that the author has a way with words. It might've been their off day, but you can still tell that they can definitely write. This isn't amateur hour, and I'm thankful for it.
Overall, I'd recommend this if you're interested in the creative ways that art (in all forms) intersects with technology, automation, robotics, and language learning models.
Thank you to CAEZIK SF & Fantasy and NetGalley for this arc.
Reviews of each short story below:
Silicon Hearts by Adrian Tchaikovsky
4.5/5 stars
Two "writers" earn their living by writing prompts into story writing AI bots and submitting the "stories" to magazines and journals to make money. Chaos ensues when their romance story bot starts writing nonsense.
Great opening story to the anthology!
I didn't think I'd like this one, but I was proven wrong. Tchaikovsky managed to make me care about the plot and the characters in this short story. It was both funny and grim at the same time and made me think about the future of AI art. I'd recommend this one.
Forged by Jane Espenson
3.5/5 stars
Failing to complete its task, a drone starts to forge "Naïve" art pieces.
Great storytelling here and I liked the literal anthropomorphism of the drone MC. Great example of "garbage in garbage out" when it comes to machines created by humans.
A Beautiful War by Fang Zeyu, translated by Nathan Faries
5/5 stars
An artist is drafted into a war, but he doesn't want to fight. A new AI tech is introduced to help these draftees fight like real soldiers while desensitizing and acclimatizing them to war.
Absolutely superb! (But then again, I'm biased because I like reading about war and art.) Such a creative and dark story about the military applications of AI.
Would love to read more from this author!
Stage Shows and Schnauzers by Tina Connolly
4.5/5 stars
PI Emily Viridian and Gabriel, her AI assistant, investigate a series of incidents at her ex's musical performance.
I'm not usually into contrived detective stories, but I ended up liking this! Great characters, great vibes, and overall, a strong story with a beginning, middle, and end. Loved the pacing too and the setup really helped introduce the characters.
The Mercer Seat by Vajra Chandrasekera
1/5 stars
Something about a courtroom drama in the future compared to a classic sci-fi story and movie.
Well, this read like a rambling essay on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?/Blade Runner with a side of ChatGPT-prompted futuristic court drama. I had no idea what was going on. There were a lot of words and nothing made sense. A great example of purple prose.
Good Stories by Ken Liu
5/5 stars
Clara works as a "textsmith" at Good Stories, changing a few words here and there on AI-generated stories to bypass copyright laws. She finds out that no one actually "reads" the "stories" that are "written."
Another great addition to the anthology! This reads very dystopian and very topical to the point where it feels prescient and comes off like an apocalyptic horror for creatives. This touches on AI as a threat to storytelling, involving several types of creatives such as writers, filmmakers, actors, etc.
So, of course, I loved it.
Also, the addition of actual ChatGPT text was a stroke of genius.
The Factory of Market Desires by Rodrigo Culagovski
3.5/5 stars
A famous artist, Osorio, creates an AI that's tasked to make art pieces in his style. But the AI has other ideas.
I'll admit, I got pretty bored halfway through because this sounded like a typical "AI becomes sentient" story, but I actually liked how it ended!
It's both strangely apocalyptic and sort of sweet at the same time, giving off vibes that seem to say that we might as well work with AI-prompted "art" if this going to be the future. Not sure how I feel about that though, which is why it feels very apocalyptic to me.
The Forms of Things Unknown by Julie Nováková
4/5 stars
"It's just strange to hear someone claim to be an artist out here. I thought that was just a hobby. Something to fill your spare time, if you've got any and if it doesn't consume common resources."
The MC, along with another teammate, Abigail (who has an AI implant), try to communicate with an alien species. The MC finds out that there's more to Abigail (and her fellow linkheads/Joined humans) than meets the eye.
Wow! I'm surprised I ended up liking this one. The beginning felt very tryhard sci-fi, but after that, the whole philosophical debate on whether AI-linked humans were better off or worse than "regular" humans really pulled me in.
I'm not sure if the alien ant served a greater purpose other than being a foil to both characters, but maybe that was the whole point.
Anyway, this is one of those short stories I'd love to see fleshed out as a full length novel.
Eve & Mada by Mose Njo, translated by Allison M. Charette
1/5 stars
Something about Madagascar's capital and falling in love with a woman and singers and poets who committed suicide.
Rambling and barely coherent. The author attempted to talk philosophically about suicide and love, but I had no idea what was going on. Not sure where AI came into play either.
Torso by H. Pueyo
4/5 stars
"Art was created to express oneself to others," replied Torso.
I create it to express myself to me."
The FMC, who is a disabled sculptor, receives a robot assistant from her father, who she has a very complicated relationship with.
This went somewhere I thought it wouldn't go... But I won't complain.
Other than that human/robot scene, I liked the emotions conveyed in this story. It was very dark and well-written, and is a great addition to the sci-fi body of stories relating to human and robot relationships. It reminded me a bit of He, She and It by Marge Piercy.
The Laugh Machine by Auston Habershaw
4/5 stars
An AI robot comedian at a local bar becomes intrigued with a regular who comes in, only buys wine, and cries at its shows.
Although this wasn't really my thing, this was still a well-written short story! The AI comedian gave me murderbot vibes with its dark humor and sarcasm. I loved how it explored how companies could record a comedian's acts and pay the comedian a license fee to use the material. It reminds me of the SAG-AFTRA strikes and how studios want to use AI so they can record actors' likenesses. Lots of food for thought there.
The Unknown Painter by Henry Lion Oldie, translated by Alex Shvartsman
3/5 stars
A hacker creates an AI that can make accurate predictions about events (most of the time).
I really wanted to like this, but I wasn't sure what the story's main purpose was. It meandered from a story about a hacker, to the hacker joining the Ukrainian military because of the Russian invasion, to the hacker teaching others how to use a drone? And somehow, an AI-generated painting foretold the triumph of Ukrainian forces in a battle against the Russians?
Hermetic Kingdom by Ray Nayler
2/5 stars
Two lovers pay off their debts by working for simulation games.
This read very dudebro sci-fi. I wasn't a fan of the beginning at all. A lot of it was just one character telling another character what was going on.
The author was very good with descriptions though and I felt immersed in the story, which is why I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 star.
A World of Tragic Heroes by Zhou Wen, translated by Judith Huang
4/5 stars
A woman and a girl (both polar opposites) live in a world where an all-powerful AI might or might not determine people's lives.
This read a lot like play/screenplay directions rather than prose, but somehow, I ended up liking it (when I'm usually really bothered by this).
The beginning was also very confusing and I was about to write it off, but the middle and ending were worth the read. It gave me major Arc of the Scythe by Neal Shusterman vibes, where the AI is all-encompassing and acts like an artificial god (of sorts) by guiding/directing the populace. There's also a bit of weird fiction to whet the appetite.
Emil's Labyrinth by Anna Mikhalevskaya, translated by Alex Shvartsman
3/5 stars
Emil, the MC's son, loses his life to technology and AI.
This was all right. I think I understood the premise, but I'm not totally sure how the labyrinths relate to AI consciousness. I think if there were less ideas, the story would be tighter and more intimate and understandable because the loss of a child is a pretty damn powerful story.
Reader Alice by Taiyo Fukii, translated by Emily Balistrieri
3/5 stars
Reader Alice is a language learning model subscription used by a growing number of writers and editors.
Hmm... I'm not sure how I feel about this. There's a lot of telling and not much of a plot. Events don't happen as much as they're explained to the reader.
It's very bleak in terms of AI language learning models taking over short story and novel writing. It feels like something that'll probably end up happening down the road. At least this story is written in a manner-of-fact tone, instead of doom and gloom.
Prompt by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko, translated by Julia Meitov Hersey
4/5 stars
Timur, an aspiring playwright, desires to debut his masterpiece at Prompt, who's very finicky about the types of performances it allows on its stage.
I've read the first two Vita Nostra novels by the Dyachenkos and wow, this short story was definitely a grand finale! I'm really glad they were allocated enough words to write this interesting sci-fi piece. The mix of art (theater in this case), along with a god-like AI, gives off major cyberpunk vibes.
Reading this story made me feel both curious and apprehensive about the future of this type of technology. "AI" as both an enhancement and a crutch to contemporary art is an issue that we're facing now and will probably become a bigger issue if it isn't properly regulated.
This short story gives a good glimpse into AI-enhanced art and whether it's subjectively tasteful/good or not.”
Andreea
Created about 1 year agoShare
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“What a rollercoaster of a collection. The Digital Aesthete couldn't have come at a better time, with the ongoing conversation about ethics and legality of using AI in creative fields.
The 17 short stories alternate between the realms of futuristic speculative Sci-Fi and the more believable, realistic current state of AI in the field of arts. ❗Warning - a couple of stories include graphical depictions of extreme violence and self-harm.
The diversity of voices and styles is refreshing, and you've got something for lovers of every theme, from post-apocalyptic far futures to a creative take on the brutal conflict in present-day Ukraine. The authors also have vastly different depictions of AI. Some are benevolent, life-saving companions that manage to reach or exceed human capacity for empathy, beauty and art and find a way to coexist in a sort of comfortable symbiosis. Others are morally ambiguous, put to use by immoral humans or are outright malicious on their own.
If you're looking for an ultimate conclusion about whether AI can, should or will create art, this isn't it. But the purpose of speculative fiction is leaving no stone unturned in exploring the "what ifs", and this book does this exceptionally well.
✨ Disclaimer ✨ I received a free copy of this book and this is my honest review.”
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