Comment by kragen

One of the most famous essays in the history of art criticism concerns precisely this question; this is probably the single intellectual work of the Frankfurt school for which it is remembered today, if we don't count inspiring right-wing conspiracy theories.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Work_of_Art_in_the_Age_of_...

https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/... (Zohn translation)

https://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/benjamin.pdf (Zohn translation)

https://web.archive.org/web/20220128111229/http://raumgegenz... (French, blocked)

https://web.archive.org/web/20180730163618/https://www.artec... (German)

This is probably a good time to reread it, since AI art is forcing us to revisit many of the same questions from a new perspective.