Harold Cohen

Who is Harold Cohen?

Harold Cohen is a British-born artist who is noted as the creator of AARON, a computer program designed to produce art autonomously. His work in the intersection of computer artificial intelligence and art has attracted a great deal of attention, leading to exhibitions at many important museums, including the Tate Gallery in London, and acquisitions by many others.

Cohen came to the United States as a visiting lecturer at the University of California, San Diego in 1968, but he was given the rank of professor and stayed on for nearly three decades, part of the time as chairman of the Visual Arts Department. In addition, he served as director of the Center for Research in Computing and the Arts at University of California, San Diego from 1992 to 1998.

Since his retirement from UCSD, he has continued to work on AARON and produce new artwork in his studio in Encinitas, California. His partner is the prominent Japanese poet Hiromi Itō.