Artificial Intelligence and the Death of the Author: Originality, Creativity and Generative Art Ontology

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Published: Sep 18, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/dia.46959
Keywords:
Death of the author Artificial intelligence Creativity Originality Generative art ontology Authorship
Iryna Aleksandruk
Associate Professor, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine
Oleksandra Palchevska
Associate Professor, Lviv State University of Life Safety, Ukraine
Alina Androshchuck
Associate Professor, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine
Abstract

The rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have significantly affected creative production, thus raising numerous questions on creativity, authorship, originality in general and the nature of art in particular. Creativity is one of the leading human acts, impacted by individual will, emotions, culture, and tradi- tions. Nowadays, AI systems can generate whatever is required with minimal or no direct input from a human being. The aim of the article is to examine and analyze how the concept of the death of the author in a metaphorical sense discussed by Barthes is currently being turned into a technological one, as well as to address the gap regarding what kind of thing AI-generated artworks are or should be referred to. The article presents the following logical argument: if per- sonal act of will by an individual, but also as a distributed process in which technologies, institutions, and cultural context play an important role. The uni- fied account of originality, ontology and creativity is applied to the recent ad- vances in generative AI systems. A qualitative, interpretative research design was used in this research. Three methodological approaches, including concep- tual analysis, comparative textual analysis and critical discourse analysis, were utilized in this research. The concept of the death of the author was revealed to become a technological reality. The issues of originality, creativity and author- ship should be reconsidered. Novel legislation and copyright law should be introduced and implemented to regulate the issues of originality, authorship and fairness. The concept of human and machine interaction is of utmost im- portance in the modern digitalized world and should be reconsidered and re- valuated in the near future. 

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