Lev Manovich's 'The Aesthetics of Artificial Intelligence' Examines AI's Impact on Collective Imagination

Lev Manovich's new book 'The Aesthetics of Artificial Intelligence: Digital Models and Cultural Analytics' (Luca Sossella Editore, Milan, 2020) explores how AI is reshaping collective imagination and cultural production. Born in Moscow in 1960, Manovich studied fine arts, architecture, semiotics, and programming before moving to New York in 1981. He now teaches at the City University of New York's Computer Science Program. The book argues that AI plays a crucial role in the global cultural system, recommending what we should see, hear, read, and buy through metadata analysis. Manovich warns that AI could reduce creative complexity by conditioning collective imagination, citing examples like Google Clips (2018), an AI-driven camera that selects 'good' videos, and IBM's Watson, which created the trailer for Luke Scott's 2016 film 'Morgan.' Netflix used AI to profile the plot of 'House of Cards' based on viewer preferences, and the final season of 'Game of Thrones' was written by a neural network due to George R.R. Martin's unfinished novel. Manovich proposes a new discipline, Cultural Analytics, to analyze these phenomena. The book costs €10 and has 112 pages.