AI Art: How artists are using and confronting machine learning | HOW TO SEE LIKE A MACHINE

Summary

The video script explores the intersection of AI and art, discussing how artists are using AI not just as a tool, but to challenge and redefine our understanding of technology. It delves into AI's potential for creativity beyond human biases, as seen in MoMA's 'Unsupervised' exhibition, and raises questions about the implications of AI on society, culture, and the environment. The conversation touches on the generative turn in AI, the importance of considering AI's cultural and political aspects, and the need for a broader perspective on AI's role in our lives.

Takeaways

• 🤖 **AI in Daily Life**: Many everyday technologies are powered by AI, yet there is limited understanding about how they work.
• 🎨 **Artistic Engagement with AI**: Artists are using AI not only as a tool but also to educate the public about its complexities and to provoke thought about free will and perception.
• 🧑‍🎨 **Subversion of Technology**: Artists are exploring how to use technology in unconventional ways, embracing it to create new expressions rather than rejecting it outright.
• 📊 **Supervised vs. Unsupervised Learning**: The script contrasts supervised learning, where humans label data, with unsupervised learning, which allows machines to find patterns without human guidance.
• 🌟 **AI as a Creative Medium**: At MoMA, Refik Anadol's exhibition uses AI to reimagine and speculate on artistic possibilities beyond human labeling and categorization.
• 🔮 **Machine Dreams**: The AI creates a complex classification system from MoMA's collection, exploring 'empty spaces' in the data to generate new, imagined content.
• 🌐 **Breaking Down Boundaries**: AI's multi-dimensional imagination transcends human biases and categories, blending past, present, and future in a convergence of ideas.
• 🔍 **Bias in AI Systems**: The discussion highlights the inherent biases in AI training data and the real-world implications of these biases.
• 🌱 **Evolution of Human-Machine Relationship**: The script touches on the historical evolution of how humans and machines have grown together, from early industrial fascination to modern AI interaction.
• ⚖️ **Ethical and Societal Concerns**: There are concerns about AI being deployed by large corporations leading to wealth and power consolidation, potentially exacerbating societal inequities.
• 🔄 **Rethinking AI Purpose**: Artists and researchers are exploring alternative uses for AI, such as creating collective dreams and consciousness, rather than just efficiency and profit.

Q & A

What is the general perception of AI among the public according to the transcript?

The transcript suggests that many people interact with AI daily but have little understanding of it. There is a sense of feeling captive or passive to technologies that are simply given to us.

How do artists view AI in the context of the transcript?

Artists view AI both as a tool and as a subject that people should understand more about. Some artists want to intervene in AI processes at a high level, exploring existential questions about free will and perception.

What is the difference between supervised and unsupervised learning as discussed in the transcript?

Supervised learning involves humans tagging information from the outset, while unsupervised learning allows the machine learning model to do the tagging on its own, often resulting in a 'black box' where the processes are not fully understood.

What was Refik Anadol's approach to the exhibition at MoMA?

Refik Anadol's approach was to use unsupervised learning to create artwork that does not mimic reality but instead dreams and speculates on the machine's imagination. He used MoMA's archive metadata to create a realtime software artwork that is always changing.

How does the AI in Refik Anadol's MoMA exhibition navigate the data?

The AI builds a complex classification system or map of MoMA's collection, groups data points, and navigates the empty spaces to speculate on what could exist, leading to a kind of dreaming and hypothetical scenario.

What breakthroughs in AI research were mentioned in the transcript?

The transcript mentions breakthroughs like OpenAI's DALLE, DALLE-2, ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion, and Midjourney, which are all supervised, labeled, multi-model AI algorithms allowing interaction.

What concerns do the speakers have about the use of AI in society?

The speakers express concerns about AI systems being used by large corporations, potentially leading to a consolidation of wealth and political power, and resulting in an inequitable society. They also discuss the biases in AI systems and the oversimplification of complex realities.

How does the transcript discuss the role of artists in the context of AI?

The transcript highlights that artists can bring a unique perspective to AI, using their historical and cultural understanding of images to contribute to the conversation in a way that the engineering computer science tradition does not.

What is the 'generative turn' mentioned by Kate Crawford?

The 'generative turn' refers to a crucial inflection point where traditional understanding of fields like illustration, film, and publishing is rapidly changing due to the impact of AI and generative capabilities.

What is the significance of Trevor Paglen's work 'Behold these Glorious Times!'?

Trevor Paglen's work 'Behold these Glorious Times!' is significant as it exposes the algorithmic biases in AI systems by showcasing the training images used for object and face recognition, among other things, and highlighting the real-world implications of these definitions.

How does the transcript suggest we should consider using AI tools?

The transcript suggests considering radical approaches to using AI tools, such as making them inefficient or working against their intended purposes, to upend expectations and challenge the status quo.