The chapter explores the question of whether AI can create great art. It highlights the achievements of AI in generating images, writing plays, and even creating music and 3D objects. The definition of art is discussed, focusing on creativity, originality, and technical skill. The passage presents arguments for and against AI-generated art being considered true art. Critics argue that AI lacks creativity, understanding of its audience, the ability to break free from its training, genuine emotion, and an interpersonal human experience. The absence of intent, a subconscious, and an artist in the traditional sense are also cited as limitations. However, proponents of AI-generated art argue that people often cannot distinguish between AI and human-created art, and algorithms are not qualitatively different from established artistic practices. The chapter discusses various tests, such as the creative Turing test, criterion-based tests, the Lovelace test, and the suggestion to assess AI’s art over the long term. The pragmatic considerations of copyright and royalties, potential impacts on human artists’ livelihoods, and the devaluation of human creativity are explored. The passage concludes by presenting the option for artists to collaborate with AI, seeing it as a tool that can expand possibilities rather than as a threat.

Chapter 2 is on the distinction between intellectual and moral virtue, which was first clearly delineated by Aristotle. Moral virtues correspond to what are most commonly recognized to be virtues, such as justice and courage. Intellectual virtues are habits of knowing that do not on their own make the agent good. Prudence, however, is significant as an intellectual virtue precisely because of its connection with the moral virtues. Prudence depends on moral virtue, and each moral virtue depends on prudence. Thomas emphasizes that the one virtue of prudence covers the material that belongs to all of the distinct moral virtues.