Looking at this painting, would you think that it’s created by a machine or a human being?
If you read the title, it would come as no surprise that this painting is completely AI-generated (it’s not a filter, or even based on any specific piece of work or style) based on Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs). In fact, the specific algorithm used to create this specific piece of art is the “signature” in the bottom right of the painting. What may come as a surprise to you, though, is that Edmund de Belamy sold at an auction in 2018 for $430,000 – nearly half a million!
There was quite a bit of media buzz during the time of this auction as people discussed what should or shouldn’t be defined as art. Can something that was coded and trained by a human, but ultimately able to independently create “art” be defined as an artist? Or is the trainer the artist? Can both be? Can the pieces created be defined as art?
In an interview with the BBC, artist Mario Klingemann says this about AI art: “In the end, you are confined to what you have seen, heard or read, and it’s very hard to glitch that…But a machine enables you to forcefully provoke that”. I think this relates to the discussion we had in class about whether constraints can actually inspire creativity. At the end of the day, the largest constraint to the creation of art is our own minds, so what could possibly be created if we could escape our own minds with AI?
If you’re interested in reading more of that interview and Edmund de Belamy: https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20181210-art-made-by-ai-is-selling-for-thousands-is-it-any-good
If you’d like to see more examples of AI-generated art and a company that is using this technology to democratize art consumption and make it more accessible to the average person: https://www.artaigallery.com/pages/original-ai-art
2 Comments
Erika Lutz · October 14, 2021 at 5:19 pm
And the creation of art was one of the few abilities that I was inclined to believe was uniquely human! This really makes me rethink that!
Linda Lin · November 16, 2021 at 10:19 pm
Hey Erika! Thanks for the comment. Humans are definitely one of the few species in the world that do things that aren’t immediately related to our survival. However, I think it might be interesting to explore that statement – do humans need art to survive? Why have we been doing it since as far back as we can track the human species?
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