Reading The Atlantic: August 2026 "What AI Will Do to Art"

For our second August meeting we will read the article "What AI Will Do to Art" which makes the claim "the future doesn't have to belong to slop."

The article explores whether AI will diminish art by making creation effortless and impersonal, or open new forms of human creativity—ultimately arguing that technology may transform how art is made, but cannot replace the human intention, care, and emotional connection that give art its meaning.

Here is the free link to the article:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/08/ai-art-holly-herndon-mat-dryhurst/687619/?gift=vIg6YgHx4KloTIXcuBO5E_hfEuYQdjd-5AinTjqWwhA&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

Please reach out to me if you need assistance getting a copy of "What AI Will Do to Art".

Note: the webpage for the digital edition also has an audio version available.

***

The Atlantic is perhaps America's most important journal. For nearly 170 years it has traced the cultural and political trajectory of the United States printing articles from W.E.B Dubois and Mark Twain through Virginia Woolf and Kurt Vonnegut to Ta-Nehisi Coates and David Brooks.

The Atlantic is opinionated, but unlike other long-running publications such as The Nation or National Review, it is not partisan. The heart of the publication has always honest, informed conversation. Its pages wrestle with who are as a nation and a people and where we are going.