What Happens When Art Meets AI? | Benedikte Wallace | TEDxArendal

Summary

In this insightful talk, the speaker explores their personal journey from hating arithmetic to discovering a passion for coding and AI. Despite struggling with basic math as a child, they found solace in programming, where computers handled the calculations they couldn't. Their work in computational creativity, specifically teaching AI to dance, raises intriguing questions about the subjectivity of art and the role of AI in creative practices. The speaker argues that collaboration between humans and AI, rather than outsourcing creativity, holds the key to enhancing both art and science. Ultimately, they emphasize the power of synergy in achieving great things.

Takeaways

• 😀 The speaker dislikes arithmetic (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) but has found ways to work around it using technology.
• 😀 Despite working in the field of mathematics and natural sciences, the speaker identifies as someone who was bad at math during their childhood.
• 😀 The speaker describes their early love for art, science, and logic puzzles, even though math seemed like a barrier to their goals.
• 😀 The speaker discovered that programming allowed them to bypass their math struggles by using computers, which are efficient at arithmetic.
• 😀 Through programming, the speaker created an AI that can perform tasks related to creativity, blending art and science.
• 😀 The speaker explores the idea of teaching computers to be creative, asking whether AI-generated dance or art can truly be considered creative or art.
• 😀 AI's approach to learning creative tasks, like dancing, starts with mimicking human movement and can result in movements that range from wiggly to more fluid and smooth.
• 😀 The challenge of defining 'good' art is acknowledged, especially when it comes to AI-generated art, which often faces the issue of subjectivity.
• 😀 The speaker raises concerns about the broader implications of AI, such as bias, data ownership, and discrimination, urging those working with AI to address these challenges.
• 😀 The speaker believes in the potential for AI to improve lives and creative practices, suggesting collaboration between humans and AI rather than outsourcing everything to AI alone.

Q & A

Why does the speaker dislike math, and how does this impact their career choice?

The speaker dislikes arithmetic, specifically tasks like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, because they struggled with these growing up. Despite this, they found a way to overcome their difficulties by learning to code, which ultimately allowed them to pursue a career in computer science, blending their interest in art and science.

How does the speaker describe the relationship between art and science?

The speaker explains that art and science are often seen as separate, even opposing fields. However, they believe that these domains can intersect, and their own work, especially in computational creativity, sits at this crossroad, blending both artistic and scientific approaches.

What was the speaker's breakthrough with AI and dance?

The speaker taught an AI to dance by feeding it motion capture data from human dancers. Initially, the AI's movements were awkward and erratic, but with time and more data, the AI learned to create more fluid and realistic dance movements, marking a personal breakthrough for the speaker.

What does the speaker mean by 'wiggly guy' and 'shapeshifter' in relation to the AI's development?

'Wiggly guy' refers to the AI's initial attempt at dancing, where it simply moved its hands and feet erratically. 'Shapeshifter' describes a more advanced AI dancer that had smoother, more fluid movements, although still not human-like. Both terms represent the stages of growth and development in the AI's learning process.

What is the method used by the speaker to train the AI to dance?

The speaker uses a technique called 'supervised deep learning,' where an artificial neural network is trained with motion capture data. The AI learns from this data and makes predictions about the future movements, refining its dance skills over time.

What is the core question raised by the speaker regarding AI and creativity?

The core question is whether AI-generated movements, like the dance produced by the AI, can be considered 'art.' The speaker explores whether AI can be truly creative or if it simply imitates the data it has been given, thus challenging the definition of creativity and art.

What challenge does the speaker identify when teaching AI to create art?

The speaker highlights the challenge of subjectivity in art. Since art is subjective, defining what constitutes 'good' art is difficult, and teaching AI to understand and create art that is perceived as good or creative is a significant challenge, especially when humans themselves disagree on artistic value.

What does the speaker suggest about the future of AI in the medical field?

The speaker suggests that AI can enhance medical practices by comparing a patient's symptoms to a vast database of cases, which can help doctors make more informed decisions. However, the speaker believes that AI should work alongside human doctors rather than replace them to provide optimal care.

How does the speaker propose that AI can improve the creative process?

The speaker proposes that AI can serve as a tool for creativity by offering suggestions, feedback, and inspiration. For example, AI-generated dance movements could help dancers explore new movements, or AI could assist in other forms of art like music and visual arts, ultimately enhancing human creativity.

What is the speaker's overall view on the collaboration between humans and AI?

The speaker believes that the key to unlocking the full potential of AI lies in collaboration. Instead of AI replacing humans, it should work with us, complementing our abilities and enhancing our work. Together, humans and AI can achieve greater things than either could alone, as demonstrated by the speaker's own experience with AI in both art and science.