There’s a Douglas Hofstadter book, Le Ton Beau de Marot, which is all about the art of translation. Specifically one poem by Marot, translated over and over again.

In the book, he convincingly makes the case that translation always has choices that must be made, and in translating a poem, choices must be made about which parts of the original must be held strictly to and which are open to interpretation. Rhyme, meter, structure, tone, etc.

It’s a fascinating book, really.

So is the art the product or the intentional process? That’s the core question here.

Because computers can and do translate, and there are choices made along the way.

Are those choices made? Are they made with intent?

And if they are, does that intent qualify as artistic?

It’s a neat question and not easily discarded.

We had a similar issue a few years back. Who owns a macaque’s photography? Are they the artist, or the person who gave them a camera?