BMW’s reveal of its newest Art Car series entry is perhaps best accompanied by a thought-provoking presentation by the automaker that looks at AI-powered design.

The new BMW design halos came about by designer-AI partnership, and to foreground the introduction of the car by recapping news about AI forays into art and the ‘generational design’ pieces that come about through artistic or artisanal manipulation of algorithmic learning is useful. The process has come to be called ‘co-creativity,’ and it illuminates the role of AI in artistic creation and industrial and architectural design.

BMW titles the 8-series lineup — there are three this time around instead of one — under the heading of The Ultimate AI Masterpiece. BMW used California-based tech company Nvidia’s AI-driven ‘StyleGAN’ software to pack 50,000 artworks representing nearly a millennium of human history and 50 contemporary works into the mix. Gary Yeh — who founded appreciation organization ArtDrunk — and creative tech-friendly designer Nathan Shipley helped guide the project.

COVID-19 isolation provided the time and space to conceptualize the project, work it through and bring the gran tourers to the stage. It appears that at least seven distinct finished 8-Series Art Cars were completed for this latest round. Each design given the green light is an amalgam, and in some cases oddly cohesive.

Will AI-generated work ever be considered art? The well-publicized 2018 sale of an AI algorithm-created portrait netted almost $450K, but the jury’s out when it comes to calling it a work of art.

But ‘co-creativity’ is only just beginning.