  This essay discusses whether computers, using Artificial Intelligence (AI),
could create art. First, the history of technologies that automated aspects of
art is surveyed, including photography and animation. In each case, there were
initial fears and denial of the technology, followed by a blossoming of new
creative and professional opportunities for artists. The current hype and
reality of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools for art making is then discussed,
together with predictions about how AI tools will be used. It is then
speculated about whether it could ever happen that AI systems could be credited
with authorship of artwork. It is theorized that art is something created by
social agents, and so computers cannot be credited with authorship of art in
our current understanding. A few ways that this could change are also
hypothesized.
