AI Elegance and Ethics - Just Married?

Abstract

The following paper is dedicated to the 21st century’s “recent marriage” between the aesthetics of beauty and elegance on the one hand, and the ethics of choice on the other, involved in the “humanizing mission” of AI digital
assistance. In the context of the 4.0 Social Revolution it will be shown how modern aesthetic concepts of AI design can go hand in hand with the ethics of choice, because of their inherent connection, backtracked in earlier moments of European history, and expanded around the French Revolution in Schiller’s 27 letters On Aesthetic Education of Man (1795) as well as earlier in Leibniz holistic aesthetics.
Relevant arguments will be discussed here to disclose the “secrets” of how the inherent connection is to be carried out within the metaphysical background of faith, even if modern 20th century attitude has seemingly dismissed its
“p hilosop hical burden” during the late 1970-ies. In 2011 a “New Aesthetics” was introduced without the burden of metaphysics, aiming to create a new “lens” for the perception of elegance, simplicity and clarity by young “digitally naïve” Avantgarde artists. However, elegance and beauty have previously been claimed by algorithmic solutions, starting with Leibniz and Condorcet, which gave birth to the 20th century computational aesthetics. The social life of AI algorithms – we cannot perceive them as humans – seems mostly intended to optimize corporate solutions. But the 21st century artists are about to take their chances on creating something new that makes us feel artificial intelligence as an integral part of a beautiful mind. AI algorithms can offer smart solutions, but the wisdom of choice has to remain a human call.