Harold Cohen (artist)

Harold Cohen (1928-2016) was a British-born artist best known for creating AARON, a computer program designed to autonomously generate original artwork. He initially trained as a painter and represented Britain at the Venice Biennale in 1966. However, in the late 1960s, he became interested in artificial intelligence and its potential applications in artmaking.

Cohen began developing AARON in 1973 at the University of California, San Diego, where he was a professor. The program, written in LISP, was not intended to replicate human artistic skill but rather to explore the fundamental principles of representation and the nature of visual intelligence. Over decades, Cohen progressively refined AARON's capabilities, moving from abstract line drawings to complex compositions featuring figures and objects.

AARON's creative process involves a set of rules and procedures that dictate how it places and connects lines, selects colors, and generates forms. While Cohen initially programmed these rules, he gradually allowed AARON more autonomy in its artistic decisions. The resulting artworks were often described as having a distinct aesthetic, characterized by bold lines, vibrant colors, and recurring motifs.

Cohen emphasized that AARON was not simply a tool for producing art but an experimental platform for investigating the cognitive processes underlying artistic creation. He viewed his work as a collaboration with the machine, blurring the lines between artist, tool, and creative agent.

Harold Cohen's work with AARON has been exhibited internationally and is considered a pioneering example of computer-generated art and artificial intelligence in the arts. It sparked considerable debate regarding the nature of creativity, authorship, and the role of technology in artistic expression. His work raised fundamental questions about whether a computer program can truly be creative and what it means for a work of art to be original.