What do Andy Warhol and artificial intelligence (AI) have to do with each other? The "two" have presumably never met, one would think, even if Warhol, if he were alive today, would probably experiment with AI.

The US Supreme Court is currently dealing with the question of when an act of creation begins in a work of art. With regard to AI, it is therefore questionable to what extent copyright law protects works by artists such as Warhol, to the extent that they may be used as training data in the context of artificial intelligence.

The fundamental question is whether others than the author, are allowed to create further "products" based on his works, in order to possibly earn money with those products in the end.  

While artists like Warhol obviously had the chance to achieve not only artistic significance but also financial prosperity through their works, the reality for many contemporary artists looks much more difficult. If, in addition, artificial intelligence is used on a large scale to generate a multitude of further, or even "better", works based on "actual" artistic achievements created by human hands, it is questionable whether the future still offers room for human-designed art.

Of course, it would already be technically possible at present to incorporate a digital signature of the artist, and furthermore to involve an author financially. Whether this will actually be implemented, however, will have to be determined by law, both in the USA and in the rest of the world.

A more detailed article on the specific case about Warhol can be found at the following link: https://www.wired.com/story/andy-warhol-fair-use-prince-generative-ai/