Collaboration between humans and AI: Questions AI art asks

Jai Nine
Jai Nine
Nov 5 · 4 min read

Collaboration between humans and AI: Questions AI art asks

Everyone knows that art and technology stem from the same place as if twins conceived in one womb. The Greek word “Techne”, now used for technology, has been changed to “Ars,” meaning “art,” as the Romans took over. Both Techne and Ars encompassed a very broad range of artistic and technical acts, such as from what is now apparently one of the artistic acts like poetry, to what is called craft like woodwork, pottery, etc.

These twins were separated from each other since the beginning of the 17th-century modern science. Science attempted to free itself from Pseudoscience which is magical and medieval and to make differentiation from Techne but, interestingly it was carried out in a way that emphasized science as a ‘culture’. Not much later, science tried to draw a boundary with technology which was considered the essential culture at that time but, wanted to be closer to the categories of art, such as literature, art, and music.

Here we can finally find art, technology and science were not far from one another.

The reason why they want to be distinguished from one other may have been different by time, but that also means that there are many similarities that need to be distinguished.

After that history passed by, the era where art, technology, and science seem to be in one group has been coming up: AI (Artificial Intelligence) art. Someone would get scared with the word, thinking to themselves “Is it spreading out even to art?” and thinks of a dystopian future where all human beings are replaced by machines. Or some others would shrug, saying “Why not?”

“commune with…” 120x60cm, 2019, A collaborative artwork on Dokdo by Pulse 9’s AI artist “Imagine AI”

The title is “Commune with …” which means “communicate” The coloring version is the final and before that, drawing was done by pen.

The British TV show “Humans”, which I have seen lately, came to my mind naturally. In the TV show, people can purchase household labor robots at large supermarkets without any concern like buying a refrigerator or a TV.

However, the robot eventually gets rid of the “role” of husbands who look after their wives when they are sick or the role of mothers who read books to their kids in bed.

It might be natural for the family members to believe that a robot who reads them books nicely 24/7 or knows which part of the body should be treated and taken care of is much better than tired mothers or husbands after working all day long.

As a writer who is keen on the artist’s well-being, I’m also concerned about the situation in which AI is replacing artists. (Maybe most artists will think the same.)

In the current situation in Korea where art is not fully evaluated so, the art market is not properly formed and subordinate to public funds, if AI involves in it and attempts to replace artists, they would cry out loud and say what they are supposed to do.

However, whether art, technology, and science distinguished from one other, or were born in one place, these three elements could never be completely taken apart. So, AI art is not something that has to be pushed down like an alien that lands on Earth and destroys humankind.

According to an AI artist, AI is like “the advent of cameras in art history.”

When cameras were invented that can take pictures of things exactly as what they look like, many people were worried that paintings by humans would no longer be appreciated. However, as we know, photography and painting exist now in separate spheres.

In this way, AI will serve as a more sophisticated art tool.

First of all, AI’s deep learning ability, which is different from existing technological advances, will stimulate the artist’s imagination to infinity and beyond.

“commune with…” 120x60cm, 2019, A collaborative artwork on Dokdo by Pulse 9’s AI artist “Imagine AI”

artist Domin.

The title is “Commune with …” which means “communicate”

The coloring version is the final and before that, drawing was done by pen.

For better understanding, let me introduce you to a collaborative work by Imagine AI and human artist Domin. The artist worked on the upper side and AI on the lower side. The human artist finished the boundary area where the top and bottom cross.

The reason for working in décalcomani form is the artist might have wanted to show the collaboration with AI on the theme of ‘The boundary of fantasy’ in the most effective way.

What we want to ask the artist here are the following questions.

First, what could the artist obtain through collaboration with AI?

Did AI provide the efficiency of the work process by drawing the other part of the painting that would have done once again instead?

Second, how exactly could the sophistication created by the AI machine impress us?

We get a variety of emotions in works of art, and if the above artist’s painting impresses us by imagining the hard work and the slow work process that we can guess from that sophistication, How could we be impressed by AI work?

As you can see, ‘AI Art’ leads us to ask a lot of questions.

The answer, of course, cannot be provided right away.

However, it is clear that ‘AI art’ has already been created in this era, and we will again ask fundamental questions about art as we look at this ‘AI art’, and perhaps the process itself might be an important role of ‘AI art’. It would be also possible.

Art is undefined and an open question. Thus, it is something subverted and like a labyrinth.

Written by

Jai Nine

Pet portrait Illustrator / Author / hopeless romantic

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