The Beauty Everywhere: How Aesthetic Criteria Contribute to the Development of AI

Paulo Pirozelli, João F. N. B. Cortese

Keywords: beauty, scientific development, epistemic values, risk-spreading argument

TL;DR: Not just accuracy: aesthetic criteria for the development of AI

Abstract: "Beauty" is a highly disputed word in philosophy and art. It also appears frequently in scientific debates. But what is the role of beauty in science, and how can it be useful to AI? In this paper, we argue that scientific progress depends on the diversity of the judgment of scientists, something that is only possible because multiple aspects are involved in the evaluation of theories. Particularly important within these criteria are those related to aesthetic considerations, such as simplicity, consistency, broadness, and fertility. We claim that AI should be less focused on accuracy and related metrics, and instead should aim at integrating epistemic measures related to these aesthetic concepts.

Category: Criticism of default practices: I would like to question some well-spread practice in the community, Meta-research: A meta-research paper on the role of beauty, publishing incentives, role of negative results in ML research