Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms are trained on common facial features and photographic qualities.
Artists can then use AI’s training to generate an image. People are either happy or outraged about the prospect of AI creeping into the rarified universe of “fine art.” There are strong arguments for and against AI generated fine arts – in fact this discussion is reminiscent of discussions held when photography was at its infancy. Alfred Stieglitz and Ansel Adams were both instrumental in elevating photography to the echelon of fine art.
It is the skill and work of a computer scientist that molds the AI into an effective tool. It is the vision of the artist, however, that determines what that tool is used for. The artist controls the AI’s inputs, and the artist has the vision for what the piece should represent: the passion, feeling, and emotive properties the art should evoke. Most people have cameras in their smartphones and those phones can adjust light, fix crooked landscapes, and refine certain images; this does not turn them into Ansel Adams.
Bas Uterwijk and Hidreley Diao are using AI to create extremely lifelike photographs of historical figures. Uterwijk considers his work as more of an artistic interpretation rather than something scientifically or historically accurate.
Using the power of AI, Hidreley Diao digitally created versions of mythical and historical personalities, giving us a unique glimpse of how they might look. View more of his work at www.demilked.com/historical-mythical-figures-modern-times-hidreley.
Presently AI is a tool. It is a fancy calculator or an autocomplete. Human intervention is required to inject the meaning into the work. It could be said that, through this intervention, a human is designating a work as art. As long as AI remains a tool that is directed at the behest of an artist’s vision, there is a strong argument that AI can be used to create art. Undoubtedly, art installations based on digital images will increase. As these tools become more advanced, the amount of human involvement in their application will decrease.
Can it ever be said that machines (AI) possess the ability to create as an artist does? Who knows what the future holds.