{"id":716,"date":"2019-07-19T12:55:59","date_gmt":"2019-07-19T12:55:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hashtagart.blog\/?p=716"},"modified":"2025-03-01T16:49:50","modified_gmt":"2025-03-01T16:49:50","slug":"quo-vadis-ai-art-ai-da-and-the-value-of-artificial-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hashtagart.blog\/?p=716","title":{"rendered":"Quo Vadis, AI-Art? Ai-Da and the Value of Artificial Art"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Ai-Da is a statement. A sexy statement – and a sexist one \u2013 about the coming fusion of art, technology, and caged monkeys.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Let’s say hi to Ai-Da.<\/strong>\u00a0Aidan Meller<\/a>,<\/span><\/span>\u00a0an established gallery director in Oxford, devised Ai-Da and make her come to life. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ai-Da is the first humanoid robot artist, and this June<\/a><\/span> she opened her first exhibition titled Unsecured Futures.<\/em>\u00a0Since when does an algorithm have a gender<\/strong>?<\/strong>\u00a0Well, the gender question is one of a few queries that I have with Ai-Da.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ai-Da<\/strong>\u2019s “got a persona, she’s an avatar, she’s fiction, she’s real<\/strong>” proclaims Meller in Economic Times<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fMddlxWI6EM&w=560&h=315]<\/p>\n

Ai-Da is more than just a robot-painter. Unlike Obvious\u2019 algorithm who rocked Christie\u2019s auction last year (you can read about it in\u00a0my previous post<\/a><\/span>), Ai-Da does sculptures, portraits, and performance art<\/strong>. Or, at least, that’s what the big headlines want us to think she does. Her\u00a0Unsecured Futures<\/em>\u00a0opened at The Barn Gallery of Oxford\u2019s St John\u2019s College and featured \u201ceight drawings, 20 paintings, four sculptures and two video works,\u201d as noted by Reuters<\/a><\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Pink Face GIF<\/span><\/a> by BADCODEC<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you wonder, Ai-Da cannot walk, and her words are dictated by a human operator<\/strong>. Her robotic arm is, however, able to hold a pencil,\u00a0<\/strong>but she is not able to paint with a brush. And that’s about it.<\/p>\n

So…\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why did Meller create Ai-Da?<\/span><\/strong> There seems to be more to it than just the sheer joy of playing a part in an AI-art race. On the official<\/span> Ai-Da website<\/a>,\u00a0we can read that<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cOur aim is to encourage you to collectively question and develop the ethics of how new technologies are used<\/strong>, (\u2026) to remember those (…) stuck at the bottom of the power ladder;<\/strong> including our ailing environment<\/strong> and captive animals<\/strong> whose voice we barely to listen to. (…). [To] start directing these technologies towards the benefit of all<\/strong>. And don\u2019t forget to include the monkeys in the laboratory cages<\/strong>: the similarities unnerve.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Propaganda GIF<\/a>.<\/span> Found on Imgur<\/a><\/span>.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The issues brought up in the statement explaining the goal of Unsecured Futures<\/em>\u00a0are\u00a0pretty profound. Although many of us feel uncomfortable while challenged with animal testing or the rise of corporate power<\/strong>, Ai-Da doesn’t challenge us. At least, she doesn’t challenge us in the same way. Ai-Da is a thrill, not a threat<\/strong>. As a product of algorithms, hidden under the mask of a female robot without human\u00a0autonomy, Ai-Da’s abstract art is not rising questions that Unsecured Futures\u00a0<\/em>promises to address. So far, Ai-Da is a tool, not a partner or authority<\/strong>. Maybe\u00a0she is a statement about the power relations where all of us<\/strong>, who are outside the circle of a few privileged, are Ai-Da<\/strong>?\u00a0I have not visited\u00a0Unsecured Futures, <\/em>but from what I know, the direct link between Ai-Da and caged monkeys remains a mystery.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n

#UnsecuredFutures<\/a> is open at @UniofOxford<\/a> , my first exhibition includes a series of abstract paintings, created using Artificial Intelligence #aidarobot<\/a> #art<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ca3o808UpG<\/a><\/p>\n

— ai-da robot (@aidarobot) July 2, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n