AI in art and culture
For millennia, humanity has used Artificial Intelligence in its arts and culture.
Going all the way back to the 16th century, Rabbi Loew invented the renowned golem, which was built completely of inanimate matter and mysteriously came to life, and has had a tremendous influence on modern culture, from “Frankenstein” to “Black Mirror.”
And it is a benefit of Artificial Intelligence that we have been able to live up to our predecessors’ goals and dreams, which they offered through their kind of media, which we watch unfold before our eyes.
Figure 1: Illustration of Der Golem, Jewish Museum in Prague
Not only are we living in our forefathers’ futures, but AI is also allowing us to live in their present by repairing and preserving the artworks and records of historic sites in the form of 3-D models and more. Microsoft has collaborated with Iconem and HoloForge to create a life-like immersive experience with the help of AI in Paris at the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, paying homage to the French Icon Mont-Saint-Michel. In addition, Artificial Intelligence is leading the way in restoring great works of art that have been ravaged by the sands of time.
With the use of sentiment analysis, artificial intelligence has gone beyond preserving and restoring art and has altered the way we experience art. Be it the enigmatic “Mona Lisa” or the apathetic faces of Buddha, AI has allowed us to see all of this in a new light by capturing even the smallest traces in the statues, which may portray the sculptor’s mood during the creation of the beauty and provide meaning to even the drabbest aspects of life, reaffirming the beauty of it all. Researchers in Japan examined 200 Buddha statues, including the enigmatic look of the Ashura Buddha at Nara’s Kofuji Temple. According to Professor Syun’ichi Sekine, the project’s true goal was to “give people with a way of confirming the beauty of Buddhism.”
Not only that, but centuries-old languages may be revived and preserved with the help of Artificial Intelligence. Microsoft has been working to conserve the languages spoken in southwestern Mexico, notably Yucatec Maya and Queretaro Otomi. The team was able to save endangered languages by utilising the capabilities of Artificial Intelligence.
Figure 2: Forest of Resonating Lamps
While preserving the past has been a task for which AI has been tasked, the scope of Artificial Intelligence extends beyond that. In fact, it would be unfair to question not only what AI has done for art, but also what art has done for AI. As previously stated, it is humanity’s art and imagination, manifested in literature, philosophy, music, graphic and cinematic representation, that has formed today’s world, pushing us to new heights in the way we perceive the world around us.
AI has pushed our boundaries in every way, generating the most colourful of artworks or the most astounding symphonies that one could hardly fathom. “Recoding CripTech,” a recent show presented by Vanessa Chang and Lindsey D. Felt at SOMArts in San Francisco, redefined the human body’s potential via new sorts of social and sensory connections with technology, questioning the so-called “universal subject” (historically assumed to be white, male, and able-bodied). One of its projects, for example, invited viewers to interact with an AI-enabled notebook in order to emulate the artist’s non-neurotypical memory recall process. Another TeamLab experience, “Borderless,” is an AI-enabled genre-bending experience that creates empathy and goodwill for others as users progress through the art, and the art forms linkages and relationships with humanity.
And traditional artists have not been enraged by these changes in their world, but have instead beautifully incorporated them into their work, expanding the traditional notion of art into a framework that would have left Van Gogh and Picasso speechless at the depth of the notion and the mindboggling blend of the artforms if they were present here with us today.
Science is something that mankind need in order to live and prosper; art and culture are something that humanity desires in order to survive and prosper. And AI has been trying to make it even more transparent than it was before, overcoming artificial limits and opening a new door of thought.