Can gold be created artificially in a laboratory?

Yes, it is indeed possible to create gold artificially in the laboratory through a process called nuclear modification. This method causes atoms of other elements to undergo nuclear reactions with high-energy particles in a particle accelerator, turning them into gold.

Although possible, it is impractical

However, while it is theoretically possible to create gold in this way, it is neither practical nor economically feasible. The amount of energy and resources required to create gold through nuclear fusion is enormous, making the cost of production far greater than the value of the gold produced. 

Also, this process only produces very small amounts of gold at a time, making it unsuitable for commercial production.

As a result, creating gold artificially was not a common practice and was not followed on a large scale. Instead, gold is primarily obtained from the mining and refining of natural resources such as gold ore deposits and placer deposits...

These natural sources of gold are abundant and can be processed at a much lower cost than creating gold artificially through nuclear fusion. Yes, it is indeed possible to create gold artificially in the laboratory through a process called nuclear modification.

This method causes atoms of other elements to undergo nuclear reactions with high-energy particles in a particle accelerator, turning them into gold.

Alchemy (from Arabic: al-Khimiya; from Ancient Greek: Kumeya) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and prescient tradition historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first attested in several pseudo-allegorical texts written in Greco-Roman Egypt in the first few centuries AD.

Alchemists sought to purify, mature, and perfect certain substances. Common purposes are chrysopoea, i.e. the conversion of "base metals" (eg, lead) into "noble metals" (especially gold); Creating the Elixir of Immortality; And creating panaceas that can cure any disease.

It was through this alchemy that it was believed that gold could be artificially produced by altering anything.