From "Technical Replication" to "Algorithmic Generation": The Contemporary Challenge of Artificial Intelligence Art to Walter Benjamin's Theory of Illumination

Abstract

In the contemporary context where digital technology and artificial intelligence have profoundly reshaped the production methods of art, artificial intelligence art has shifted towards a new theoretical challenge to Walter Benjamin's theory of illumination. This article focuses on Benjamin's concept of "illumination" and systematically traces the technological evolution from mechanical replication algorithm generation. It analyzes how artificial intelligence art deconstructs and reconstructs Benjamin's theory of illumination in terms of originality, authorship, and aesthetic experience. It cannot fully cover all art forms. The research finds that algorithmic generation art, while eliminating the traditional illumination, has given rise to a "post-illumination" aesthetic paradigm characterized by data algorithm interaction. Such research provides strong support for the study of technological aesthetics. This study expands the research boundaries of technological aesthetics art theory and offers a new theoretical perspective for understanding the ontological and value theory of art in the era of artificial intelligence.

https://doi.org/10.65281/905176