Artificial Intelligence And The Art Of Imperfection

The appreciation of art seems to be an entirely human trait; having something to do with our unique pattern forming abilities.

Show a dog, cat, or dolphin a Rembrandt or Botticelli and they may perhaps pause to give a glance, a quick sniff, or even some urine. However it seems to be that it is us and us alone who place a value on that thing we call, art.

Why is this important? In the grand scheme of things it is not, however it is interesting, in a time whereby society is poised for the upcoming, artificially intelligent quickening, to wonder if the arts are somewhere AI will also come to dominate. Or, if there is something innately human about art, that will never quite be the same when created by an AI.

The Pursuit Of Perfection

Of course there are AIs around right now that can write news articles, novels, and even compose music. When it comes to painting and drawing, computers are perfectly suited to producing precise brush strokes and pen lines.

A computer could easily recreate any masterpiece on earth and in fact there are various apps out there that will turn photographs into paintings with any style of any master you care to mention.

However we are talking about recreation on a level that is deeper than mere mimicry. In fact, as human beings we don't prize exact recreation, as we do what we might call perfect imperfections.

This is evident when we look at one of those amazing drawings by photo real artists, who can recreate scenes so convincingly it is almost impossible to tell that they were drawn by hand.

Finding Perfection In The Imperfect

When we look at a great work from a Picasso, Michelangelo, or Gogan, it is often what they haven't included in their art which entices us.

When Picasso paints a sideways nose, or Michelangelo rejigs the human anatomy. We know deep down that they are not perfect recreations of the things they are trying to depict, and that it could be argued, is the essence of art.

Another word for this is qualia, this word sums up the feeling, or the essence of a thing. For qualia could be said to be, how the smell of roast beef or cut grass make you feel. Or how you get all fuzzy inside when you remember your grandma telling you stories as a child.

This is the essence of qualia, an amalgam of sensory inputs that go to make up how you feel about a person, object, or moment in time.

However computers when judged by the human sense of the word, are perfect, plus of course they cannot experience human emotion in the way that we can.

So will an AI ever be able to create art that we can enjoy in the same way as we enjoy human art?

Digital Impressionism

Yesterday my answer to the question above, would have been a resounding no. I would have argued that to appreciate, and recreate the qualia of human feeling, you would have to be human.

I would have argued that it's like the difference between understanding the chemical composition of cheese, and how all the different bacteria and such reacts to make cheese, but not understanding what it actually tastes like.

However now I'm not so sure; whilst researching this musing, I stumbled across a little article about AIs making art.

The writers of this particular piece of artificially intelligent code, wanted to see if not only could an AI create art. More so they wanted to find out if the software could develop its own style after learning about art.

The developers tested the paintings alongside ones done by organic humans. To their surprise, there was a slight preference towards the digitally generated paintings than the ones done by people.

What Does It Feel Like?

I see this as a question, perhaps the question that sentient code will want to know the answer to. However not knowing what it means, won't stop them from recreating human feeling; especially when it comes to art.

Then of course the line is truly blurred, because then the question begs; as far as a computer is concerned, is there any difference between perfectly recreating an emotion, and actually feeling that emotion?

In the same way the AI mentioned above created a new style of art, so too can I see an entirely new branch of metaphysics and philosophy springing up.

One thing is for sure, we are in for an interesting time, and some very enlightening conversations are to come once we are joined in force by our digital descendants.

Further Reading:
Artificially intelligent painters invent new styles of art

More Cryptogee Musings

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT ART CREATED BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, DOES IT MAKE YOU DESPAIR OR REJOICE? AS EVER, LET ME KNOW BELOW!

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