I suppose it is because the things we use to visualize the magnetic field interact with it, and then each other, to clump together like iron filings on a piece of paper–but what about the aurora borealis/australis? So are the lines of force an artifact of visualization?
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Think of the lines of force as a contour map of the magnetic field. The field doesn’t actually have lines anymore than natural ground has flat layers that step up between elevations but the lines are a way of seeing what is going on.
The lines let us see the size and shape of the field, what direction it is oriented in and we can use the spacing of lines to show how quickly the field is changing intensity as you get further away from the magnet (some configurations of magnets can shape the field and make it very strong but very close vs a single magnet that has a larger field with a slower drop in intensity)
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