AI Autonomy and Its Impact on the Artist’s Creative Role

The traditional creative process is being reconfigured by artificial intelligence. While the myth of sole authorship has long been challenged—from Renaissance assistants to contemporary collaborators—human agency has remained central. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) introduces a new agent into this dynamic, shifting collaboration beyond human partners and forcing a reevaluation of the artist’s role. This article explores an emerging model of co-creativity by addressing the following question: To what extent does the use of AI change the creative process and, consequently, the artist’s role? The investigation is structured as follows. The section on creative collaboration establishes a foundation by tracing the path toward AI art and examining historical precedents. It then compares traditional and AI-driven artistic processes and systematically outlines varying levels of AI autonomy in creative production. Drawing on this theoretical framework, a case study of creative experimentation with AI is presented to illustrate the practical dynamics of this partnership. The discussion articulates the implications of the findings, defending that the artist’s role and working process are transformed but not diminished. It is argued that a higher level of AI autonomy necessitates a correspondingly higher level of human artistic skill in shaping and guiding the output. AI expands the means by which art can be created while leaving the purpose—vision and search for meaning, context, and resonance—uniquely human. With artificial general intelligence still beyond reach, no system can yet initiate and sustain the creative process independently. Until that threshold is crossed, the role of the artist remains essential in the art process.