{"id":189330,"date":"2021-02-26T00:29:55","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T21:29:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/robot-artist-gets-its-first-major-exhibition-but-is-it-truly-creative\/"},"modified":"2021-02-26T00:29:55","modified_gmt":"2021-02-25T21:29:55","slug":"robot-artist-gets-its-first-major-exhibition-but-is-it-truly-creative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/robot-artist-gets-its-first-major-exhibition-but-is-it-truly-creative\/","title":{"rendered":"#Robot artist gets its first major exhibition \u2014 but is it truly creative?"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Robot artist gets its first major exhibition \u2014 but is it truly creative?<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\nA robot artist called Ai-Da will get its first major exhibition at London\u2019s Design Museum this summer. But is the humanoid truly creative?<\/p>\n

Ai-Da\u2019s\u00a0works are based on photos taken by cameras in the droid\u2019s\u00a0eyes.\u00a0Algorithms then transform the images into a set of coordinates, which guide the robot\u2019s drawing hand.<\/p>\n

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Credit: Aidan Meller<\/figcaption>
<\/a>Ai-Da\u2019s creators refer to the robot\u2019s style as \u201cshattered.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ai-Da\u2019s co-inventor,\u00a0Aiden Meller, describes Ai-Da\u2019s fragmented style as \u201cshattered.\u201d<\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t want tight representational photographic images, even though we could have programmed it to do that. We went against that because we realised that people would just think it was some kind of expensive photocopier. But more than that, we wanted to show the expressiveness of the creativity in the algorithms.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

However, not\u00a0everyone is convinced that robots are capable of true creativity.<\/p>\n

[Read:\u00a0<\/i>How do you build a pet-friendly gadget? We asked experts and animal owners<\/i><\/span>]<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Philosophers have argued<\/a> that AI can\u2019t produce real art, as it will never be an \u201cautonomous creative agent\u201d like a free-willed human. Instead, it merely imitates art through algorithms developed by programmers.<\/p>\n

Meller disagrees. The gallery owner says Ai-Da\u2019s algorithms were designed to reflect the definition of creativity proposed by Margaret Boden, a professor of\u00a0cognitive science<\/a> at Sussex University:<\/p>\n

Creativity is the ability to come up with ideas or artefacts that are new, surprising, and valuable.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cIn actual fact, it\u2019s turned out better than we anticipated, because when Ada looks at you with cameras in her eyes, to do a drawing, or a painting, she does a different one each time,\u201d says Meller. \u201cEven if she\u2019s faced with the same image or same person, it would be a completely different outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Credit: Aidan Meller<\/figcaption>
<\/a>The artworks have\u00a0already racked up over $1.2 million\u00a0in sales.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ai-Da\u2019s\u00a0new exhibition will feature a series<\/a>\u00a0of \u201cself-portraits,\u201d which the robot created by photographing itself in front of a mirror.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a deliberate irony in an insentient device with no sense of a self producing self-portraits. Meller hopes this challenges our notions of identity in a world of blurring boundaries between machines and humans, where algorithms increasingly shape our opinions and actions:<\/p>\n

I think these self-portraits are quite remarkable in respect that they\u2019re making us really face the fact that we are building relationships with technology<\/a> rather than a conscious, sentient person.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Ai-Da\u2019s app<\/a>earance\u00a0is another manifestation of this dynamic. Named after programming pioneer Ada Lovelace, the robot has the appearance and voice of a female human being.<\/p>\n

Anthropomorphising AI in this manner is a controversial subject. Research suggests<\/a> that we\u2019re more likely to trust machines that seem human, which can accelerate their adoption. But it could also convince us they\u2019re more real than they truly are \u2014 and dehumanize us in the process.<\/p>\n

Meller says Ai-Da was given a\u00a0human appearance to make it more engageable. He adds that the robot\u00a0has also designed\u00a0a new\u00a0font to signify that its creations were made by a machine:<\/p>\n

When she does any writing, she uses that, so that you know it\u2019s her and not a human.\u00a0It\u2019s really to raise that ethical question in a lot more detail.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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Credit: Aidan Meller<\/figcaption>
<\/a>Ai-Da\u2019s appearance\u00a0led one art critic<\/a> to gush about its beauty.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ai-Da is one of a growing number of AI systems producing art<\/a>. Meller believes the tech could have a similar impact on creativity\u00a0as the invention of the camera.<\/p>\n

Many painters initially feared that the medium would wreck their careers. But it soon pushed artists away from copying reality and towards exploring ideas that photography could not.<\/p>\n

Eventually, Meller expects AI will become another tool for artists:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s very threatening at the beginning because it\u2019s so new. But as they understand it, and see the nuances and the capabilities of it, it will become just a thing within itself \u2014 just like photography is a thing within itself.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Ai-Da\u2019s exhibition will run\u00a0(COVID-19 restrictions permitting) in May and June at the Design Museum in London<\/a><\/em>.\n<\/div>\n