Regardless of one's perspective, Christie's "Augmented Intelligence" sale, which continues through March 5, represents a significant achievement in the art world. It is the first instance of a prominent auction house selling a comprehensive art collection created using artificial intelligence (AI).
An artwork of English mathematician Alan Turing created by a robot artist named Ai-Da sold for US$1.32 million.
The proliferation of AI technology in our lives is reflected in the growing number of art pieces sold at auction houses. However, not everyone shares this view.
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An open letter from artists globally calling on Christie's to cancel its AI art auction has collected more than 6,400 signatures, claiming that AI models are trained on copyrighted material and consequently profit from human artists' work. Likewise, thousands of musicians, artists, writers, and journalists are protesting against planned changes to UK copyright law that could enable AI companies to exploit copyrighted material more easily.
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Artists have been discovering innovative methods to integrate AI into their creative processes.
The Indian classical dance, as described in Natya Shastra, has been reimagined through AI. An app, titled Natya, provides Bharatanatyam dancers with real-time voice and visual feedback during practice. This is made possible by AI, which tracks body movements and compiles a "movement library" where users can monitor the consistency of their steps and body language.
The artist focuses on "aunties," a term of endearment for older women, in unusual scenarios, providing viewers with the opportunity to break down their stereotypes. Her artwork depicts aunties savoring a steaming hot bowl of ramen, interacting with a camel constructed from cigarettes, and driving a vehicle created from sushi.
In Pakistan, art director and production designer Hashim Ali uses AI-generated art to reimagine what Disney princesses would look like from a South Asian viewpoint, as part of a growing group of South Asian artists whose work, according to one publication, promises "a decolonisation of storytelling traditions".
In response to claims of copyright infringement, AI artists argue that they utilize royalty-free resources and open-access generative AI, as well as digital painting techniques. They also claim that there is a human element, including a creative mind and a skilled eye, behind their machine-generated art.
At the same time, in China, as one recent academic study noted: "New methods for working with AI and digital software have become [already] integrated and ordinary in everyday Chinese artistic practices." It stated that "Chinese artists are becoming proficient in AI and creating new opportunities for creativity", while the contemporary art sector in China has already shifted to a new "digital approach" in artistic creation.
When artists take the initiative to incorporate AI into their own creative process, experimenting and expanding the limits of their art through technology, it may be more palatable than art that is entirely generated by machine learning.
The anime, set to be released this spring, was produced with the help of artificial intelligence, sparking curiosity and enthusiasm. The anime's website notes that AI is becoming increasingly prevalent and clarifies that it was employed as a mere "supporting tool", stating that there remains a distinct "gap" between human creators and AI.
For many, this gap is rapidly diminishing. Art collective Teamlab, which showcases exhibits in galleries globally, brings together artists, engineers, and mathematicians to create immersive art experiences. These exhibits may revolutionize the way we engage with art.
Museums' approach to displaying art is also undergoing a transformation. In 2022, the Museum of Art and Photography in Bengaluru, India, partnered with Microsoft's AI for Cultural Heritage Initiative to introduce the AI platform Interwoven, which identifies connections between the museum's South Asian textiles in a 2000 exhibition and art from around the world.
The AI was enlisted to help create a captivating and multi-layered story around its existing collection, which could potentially attract a more diverse and eclectic global audience.
While art entirely produced by AI remains a subject of debate, the controversy over the Christie's AI art auction is ongoing, yet there is a strong argument to be made for artistic collaborations between human artists and machine learning technology - it could potentially be the future of art.
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