Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is commonly seen as a buzzword used by companies to overpromise, but underdeliver, on their technological capabilities. The value proposition of AI is that machines can be developed to think at the same level of intelligence as humans, and maybe even surpass them.
Machine learning and AI capabilities have so far been great at working with ‘known’ information e.g. showing the best search results based on all the information available on the internet. But there’s been limited progress when it comes to what’s known as ‘generative’ AI, the ability to create new ideas. Until now.
2022 has seen a proliferation of tools that have delivered breathtaking output, namely:
- Dall-E (nice wordplay on Salvator Dali and Wall-E)
- Lex
- GPT-3
Whilst Lex and GPT-3 produce human-like text, Dall-E generates visual conent, with this video showing examples of how it takes input and produces images that have never existed before.
It’s long been believed that art and creative pursuits are uniquely human, and that technology won’t be able to supplant our output. But it seems a new era is fast approaching where the best artists will become those who know how to leverage AI capabilities to create new forms of art. In a recent example, a fine arts competition was won by a creator that utilised Midjourney, which as an AI system similar to Dall-E.
Art, everlasting and ever evolving.
Art as a habit
Creating art has been sorely lacking from my regular habits over the past few months, evidenced by the long delay in between posts, so this topic is more of a self-reminder than anything else.
Arthur Brooks is a renowned researcher on the keys to a happy and fulfilling life. He’s researched that that making art an intentional practice provides a window through which we can experience the very nature and meaning of life (something I deeply believe), rather than merely being add-on to daily life.