AI‐generated popular culture: A semiotic perspective By MarcelDanesi, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. 2024. pp. 199. £100.99 (hbk)

The rise of generative artificial intelligence raises important questions about creativity and its key role in the development of popular culture.This trend has significantly influenced cultural dynamics for over a century, affecting many urban communities.In AI-Generated Popular Culture: A Semiotic Perspective, the author Marcel Danesi examines the systematic study of meaning within the context of AI-generated popular culture through the lens of semiotics.This book compasses 10 chapters that delve into AI's burgeoning trend in the realm of signification, exploring its apprehension, and elucidating its necessity.The chapters can be categorized into three main parts based on their topics.In Chapter 1, Danesi asserts that AIgenerated pop culture is not only established but will also inevitably evolve in alignment with advancing technologies, with significant implications for the future of both the consumption and creation of pop culture.Chapters 2-9 focus on the application of AI in different areas of popular culture, including literature, film, music, mass media, art, marketing and advertising, gaming culture, and simulated culture.In the second chapter, Danesi explores the widespread and systematic engagement of AI in the creation of literary works, with modest success of this novel.AI can instantaneously produce any literary work requested, bypassing sequential cognitive processes and concentrating on text structure.Perhaps, the Dadaists were onto something after allour pursuit of meaning may, paradoxically, be inherently meaningless.Chapter 3 examines AI's impact on cinema, challenging human-centric creativity as AI content proliferates across media.Danesi suggests that a sci-fi future depends on machines acquiring a Theory of Mind to interact with human cognition and intentions.Chapter 4 explores AI-generated music.It delves into the ramifications of AI-generated music on popular culture and broader societal frameworks, considering the pervasive presence of AI-composed genres-pop, opera, and instrumental-coexisting with human compositions within the musical domain.Chapter 5 highlights AI in the mass media.The claim that mass media have been crucial in the modern era is supported by evidence showing their role in initiating or significantly influencing political and social transformations.Furthermore, the key aspect of artificial intelligence's role in media-based entertainment is its ability to create content that challenges traditional concepts of creativity.Chapter 6 explores AI's contribution to the arts, akin to pop art's historical impact on cultural aesthetics.It posits that AI art could indicate a novel phase in cultural development.Despite AI's capacity to create and innovate artistically within known parameters, the generation of art that surpasses existing creative boundaries is likely to remain uniquely human.In Chapter 7, the focus is on artificial intelligence-driven marketing and advertising strategies.AI is reshaping marketing and advertising through personalized consumer interactions and advanced strategies.This chapter also covers AI's ethical, legal, and cultural implications and its impact on consumer behavior and the industry's future.