Andrej Démuth

The study explores the etymological and semantic challenges associated with the term beauty. The authors highlight that beauty is among the most vague and multifaceted concepts. As a result, its users often grasp completely different aspects/dimensions of it. After addressing etymological differences and conducting a conceptual analysis of its synonyms, the authors present empirical findings and a model outlining the semantic space of the term beauty. In the second part of the study, the authors shed light on the reasons behind the use of this ambiguous term, particularly focusing on its evolutionary and existential significance. The conclusion of the study draws attention to the fact that, despite the vagueness of the concept, beauty continues to play a key role in our lives, reflecting our need to share it, and portraying the human being as homo aestheticus.

The ability to create and perceive art has long been understood as an exceptional human trait, which should differentiate us from the rest of the organisms or robots. However, with the uprising of cognitive sciences and information stemming from them, as well as the evolutionary biology, even the human being began to be understood as an organism following the evolutionarily and culturally obtained algorithms and evaluation processes. Even fragile and multidimensional phenomena like beauty, aesthetic experience or the good have lately been analyzed using computational aesthetics, neuroaesthetics, and neuroethics, suggesting that the entire aesthetics, art or ethics can be understood as a result of a certain algorithmic data analysis. In the following article, I will attempt to think about the concept of computational aesthetics and the possibilities, benefits and shortcomings of artificial intelligence in the creation, as well as in perception and evaluation of artworks. I will introduce multiple models of artistic work based on AI, quality/originality evaluating computer programs, as well as mechanisms of its perception. In the end, I will attempt to present the basic aesthetic problems stemming from the development of AI and its usage in the field of art.