The Synthetic Gaze. Generative AI and the Transformation of Contemporary Visual Authorship (English version)

Abstract

The expansion of generative artificial intelligence within the field of visual creation has triggered a profound structural transformation in the regimes of production, legitimation, and aesthetic experience. Accordingly, the objective of this article is to analyze the ontological, epistemic, and ethical mutations arising from algorithmic mediation, with the aim of establishing the theoretical foundations for a critical aesthetics of the synthetic gaze. The findings demonstrate that generative visual production does not merely extend human creativity but reconfigures artistic agency through the redistribution of authorship, the statistical recombination of originality, and the conversion of authenticity into procedural transparency. This shift underscores the need to construct ethical and regulatory frameworks that incorporate algorithmic traceability, relational responsibility, and distributive justice within creative ecosystems. Ultimately, the study proposes a reinterpretation of art as a cognitively and morally situated practice within hybrid ecologies of human and machinic creation. Spanish version: https://nawi.espol.edu.ec/index.php/nawi/es/article/view/1234/1232