“Can neural networks become painters or writers? Do the works they generate—or, more precisely, the works produced through collaboration between humans and neural networks—possess a unique quality? Has art itself already been reduced to a kind of secondhand product? Lev Naumov seeks to find answers to these questions, which remain unresolved—questions as blurred and elusive as the brushstrokes in an Impressionist painting. Yet one thing is beyond doubt: generative models have already prompted us to write books about them and even to create works in partnership with them. This is a direct outcome of human–machine collaboration—a synergy that is bound to drive innovation in artistic forms while simultaneously deconstructing established artistic paradigms.”
—Ksenia Burzhskaya (novelist, poet, and head of AI promotion for “Elisa,” the virtual assistant developed by Russia’s Yandex)

“For centuries, thought has been born out of the agonizing process of questioning, a process that Plato once described with remarkable precision. Neural networks, by contrast, offer us a kind of “Caesarean section” shortcut: you pose a question, and an answer emerges in the blink of an eye. Some might argue that the answers provided by neural networks are ‘hardly impressive.’ Yet others counter that, judged by Marcel Duchamp’s standards, these answers are already impressive enough. In this book, Lev Naumov delves deeply into how we should regard the creative outputs of neural networks. Are we entering an era of ‘neural classicism’? After all, the training data for today’s large language models still consists entirely of texts created by humans. Or could it be the other way around—that we are, in fact, growing increasingly distant from true creativity?”
—Polina Krivikh (psychophysiologist and neuroscientist, CEO of Engind)

★ A groundbreaking study that zeroes in on the question of whether AI can create “genuine art,” spanning the fields of art, philosophy, and technology with a fresh and unique perspective.
★ Recommended jointly by neuroscientists and leading experts in the field of AI, this book offers a multifaceted exploration of the boundaries between human and machine creativity, making it an invaluable resource.
★ Set against the backdrop of an era in which artificial intelligence is reshaping traditional artistic practice, this book provides a serious, in-depth, and innovatively structured response to the challenges posed by AI.
★ By integrating art studies, neurophysiology, and computer science, the book transforms complex academic questions into an engaging intellectual inquiry into the very boundaries of creativity.
★ A richly illustrated, album-like work: visual artworks generated by neural networks are interwoven with reflections on beauty, talent, and the evolution of art, creating a dynamic and thought-provoking dialogue.
★ The author holds a doctoral degree and wears many hats—as a writer, director, and more—combining strong academic credentials with robust creative expertise, ensuring that the research presented in this book is both solid and reliable.

This book is more than just an academic monograph; it is an intellectual journey that traverses the boundaries of art theory, neuroscience, and digital aesthetics. Grounded in philosophical theory and enriched with a wealth of visual examples and accessible explanations, the author invites readers to delve deeply into the question: What is the true nature of creation? Can creative acts be described or even programmed? If the answer is yes, does that mean creativity will no longer be exclusive to “humans”? In today’s world, how should we redefine and recognize art? Where should we draw the line between originality and generation, between the real and the simulated?

This is a highly interactive work: right from the outset, the author draws readers into a unique game—a kind of artistic Turing test. The book adopts a multifaceted and multidimensional research perspective, drawing not only on the writings of widely recognized luminaries in the cultural sphere but also on a wealth of scholarly research. It encourages readers to explore, on their own, how they can engage with neural networks—whether for visual art, such as painting, or for textual creation. Throughout the book, the author introduces several concise yet innovative concepts, including “neuro-modernism” and “textual constructivism.”

Lev Naumov is a writer, playwright, cultural scholar, and director, holding a PhD in philosophy. For many years, he has given lectures on literature, film, and art theory, and has authored several books, including the essay collections Whisper of Forgotten Letters (2014), The Daedalus Hypothesis (2018), and Dream Chasers (2021). He has conducted extensive research on the works of numerous cultural icons, including Andrei Tarkovsky, Aleksandr Kaidanovsky, Samuel Beckett, Andy Warhol, Terry Gilliam, Christopher Nolan, Sergei Parajanov, and David Lynch. His profound expertise in cultural studies and philosophy lends unwavering credibility to the conclusions presented in the book. As a practitioner, Naumov has conducted his own creative experiments with neural networks: in the spring of 2025, at the Non-Fiction/Fiction Literary Fair, he staged a performance art piece titled “The Inspiration Machine,” in which he used artificial intelligence to create the short story “Silence and Other Forms of Life.”

[Author] Naumov, Lev Aleksandrovich
Lev Naumov is a multifaceted figure: a writer, playwright, cultural scholar, and director, holding a Ph.D. in Philosophy. He was born on July 3, 1982, in Leningrad. In 1999, he graduated from Physics and Mathematics Lyceum No. 239. In 2007, he successfully defended his candidate of sciences dissertation. In 2011, he earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. He has published nearly 40 scientific papers in both Russian and English.

As both a screenwriter and director, Naumov has directed seven films, the most well-known of which is the documentary “Remembering Chlosteros.” In 2007, he initiated and founded Camel Studio, a creative collective. Since 2010, he has served as the artistic director of the international documentary film festival “Art Documentary.” He is also a prose writer, short-story author, and playwright, having won numerous national and international literary awards in Russia. His scripts have been staged at theaters in Moscow and abroad. He is the biographer of Alexander Bashlachev, one of the outstanding poets of the 20th century.

Lev Naumov has long given lectures on literature, cinema, and the study of the arts. He is the author of several essay collections, including “The Whisper of Forgotten Letters” (2014), “The Daedalus Hypothesis” (2018), and “Dream Chasers” (2021). He has conducted in-depth research into the works of many prominent figures in the cultural world, including Andrei Tarkovsky, Alexander Kaidanovsky, Samuel Beckett, Andy Warhol, Terry Gilliam, Christopher Nolan, Sergei Parajanov, and David Lynch. He currently lives and works in St. Petersburg.

Part One: The Dawn of a New Day 1
To Create or Not to Create: What Is the Difference? 1
The Sum of Technologies: Neural Networks, Lies, and Painting 8
Art—a Noun... 18
The Core Instincts of Artistic Perception 56

Part Two: The Practical Application of Neural Networks in Painting 66
Initial Attempts and First Results 66
Visual Poetics: Reflections on Meaning, Conception, and Meaninglessness 76
Neural Networks and Beauty: Is Artificial Intelligence a Conservative Retrograde? Is Neural Baroque Possible? 83
The Attraction of Beauty and the Neurophysiological Mechanisms of Aesthetics 88
The Scientific Essence of Aesthetics 91
Is Beauty an Essential Attribute of Art? 99
Do Neural Souls, Neural Personalities, and Neural Emotions Exist? And Do They Really Matter? 107
Can Neural Networks Create “Something Entirely New”? 112
Neural Networks and “Authorial Style”: A Discussion on “Authorship” 121

Part Three: The Diverse Creative Possibilities of Neural Networks 125
The Demanding Neural Art Critic, or the Dream-Come-True Moment for Art Scholars 125
Textual Construction: Goal Setting in Artistic Creation, with Neural Networks as Models of the Soul 139
Can Collaboration with Neural Networks Be Called Creation? 145
Some Forward-Looking Conclusions on Neural Modernism and Other Propositions 156
Should We Rejoice or Feel Melancholy About This? 162
Index of Proper Names 166
Acknowledgments by the Author