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Deep Dive
The Next Frontier, or an Existential Threat? How One Art Professor Approaches Generative AI
男女操逼视频软件 Professor of Art Will Pappenheimer is a pioneer in the digital art world, having incorporated digital media into his work since the 1990s. Pappenheimer is a founder of the Manifest.AR collective, a group of artists who manipulate the technologies provided through augmented reality to reinvent existing public art. He has traveled the world to create and showcase his work, which has been featured in renowned institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Kunstraum Walcheturm in Zurich, the Golden Thread Gallery in Belfast (ISEA 09), FILE 2005 at the SESI Art Gallery in S茫o Paulo, and the Xi男女操逼视频软件檃n Academy of Art Gallery in China, among others.
More recently, with the introduction of text-to-image generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), Pappenheimer has been experimenting with this groundbreaking medium. His latest work, shown at the 男女操逼视频软件 Art Gallery as part of the Flux exhibit, includes video, augmented reality, and digital prints generated by AI text prompts, all investigating a devasted post-human environment.
We had the opportunity to talk with Pappenheimer about the revolutionary potential of GenAI in the art world, how this technology is changing the way he teaches and approaches his own work, ethical issues, centuries-old questions about ownership and originality, and more.
Can you describe your most recent AI-influenced work for the 男女操逼视频软件 Art Gallery男女操逼视频软件檚 Flux exhibit?
The body of work that addresses AI is called Flooded and Moldy Rooms After Artists. This series of works is in the art-historical vein of artists who have done work based on previous artists, and they男女操逼视频软件檙e often called 男女操逼视频软件渁fter男女操逼视频软件 so-and-so. 男女操逼视频软件淎fter男女操逼视频软件 Rembrandt, or 男女操逼视频软件淎fter男女操逼视频软件 Duchamp, for example. I created large scale prints using prompts that incorporate both a well-known artist and eccentric descriptions incorporating moldy and flooded rooms following ecological disasters.
I男女操逼视频软件檓 interested in the idea of a possible economic, ecological collapse, and mixing that in with a pre-existing artist男女操逼视频软件檚 work so you can see that artist男女操逼视频软件檚 aesthetics on the site of ecological disaster男女操逼视频软件攆ocusing on the idea of the flood, and what it would leave behind.
One of the critiques of AI is that it男女操逼视频软件檚 using large quantities of energy through servers, and this work ties into that potential disastrous ecological future. It has a weird predictive feeling about it. One word that男女操逼视频软件檚 increasingly relevant in the world of digital media is the concept of 男女操逼视频软件減ost-human男女操逼视频软件, and I男女操逼视频软件檓 playing off that concept.
How have you approached 男女操逼视频软件渃reating男女操逼视频软件 art through GenAI?
Going back to when this technology was first introduced, I did a bit of experimentation just as and some of the other models were beginning to operate. I found that if I created an interesting, borderline nonsensical prompt, I got very interesting results on par with artists男女操逼视频软件 works that I knew. I was very intrigued by its results.
There are a lot of complaints about AI, but I found the images it produced to be quite sophisticated. At a Pace event, I put four images on the screen男女操逼视频软件攖hree of them were artist男女操逼视频软件檚 images from various collections in museums and one of them was generated by AI. No one was able to identify the AI generated image.
It男女操逼视频软件檚 very impressive what AI is doing, and the quality of the AI work brings up the issue of artists being concerned about their jobs and functions being replaced. I男女操逼视频软件檓 not making a commentary on that, I男女操逼视频软件檓 just saying, this art is quite good, and I think that artists are still going to be producing wonderful work.
It男女操逼视频软件檚 also very important to keep in mind that some of the reason AI art is good is because of the database it男女操逼视频软件檚 drawing from. If the database is filled with good art, made by artists, you男女操逼视频软件檙e going to get quite good results.
The concepts of ownership and originality are one of the major ethical concerns surrounding GenAI, especially in art. How have you approached this issue in your work?
Ideas of originality and ownership, certainly in the last few years, have been a hot button issue. It男女操逼视频软件檚 clear that some artists involved in more traditional art男女操逼视频软件攑ainting, sculpture, etc.男女操逼视频软件攈ave been uneasy about this idea that a computer can generate art.
One interesting aspect ethically and legally男女操逼视频软件攁s far as I know, I男女操逼视频软件檓 not a law professor! 男女操逼视频软件攊s that you can男女操逼视频软件檛 claim ownership of an AI image because right now, because ownership/authorship by humans is defined by a human making the artwork. Since a machine arguably makes most of an AI image, that男女操逼视频软件檚 arguably not within the legal definition of authorship. I男女操逼视频软件檓 trying to get my students thinking about and discussing these issues.
That男女操逼视频软件檚 also why I haven男女操逼视频软件檛 signed the Flooded and Moldy Room prints with my name. I sign them with a very simple zero with a slash through it, pointing toward the idea that 男女操逼视频软件渘o one person男女操逼视频软件 made this image because it男女操逼视频软件檚 a collective image. The only thing I did was take care of the image, create the prompt, and print it carefully. On the back, I sign it with my initials saying I printed it when I printed it. The date on the image is the date that I finished with this whole process.
I am heavily involved in the creation of this art, but I男女操逼视频软件檓 not going to claim authorship of this whole image.
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How has the introduction of text-to-image GenAI changed the way you teach?
A few years ago, when text-to-image GenAI was first introduced, I was mostly drawing a blank with students男女操逼视频软件攖hey weren男女操逼视频软件檛 even using ChatGPT yet.
In a second-level digital design course, I started incorporating a GAN site男女操逼视频软件攁 particular form of generative AI. This site requires that you submit 30 images. It would then start to process those images together, and you男女操逼视频软件檇 be able to see that process. I wanted students to see this process happen. Even though GAN isn男女操逼视频软件檛 the only form of AI generation, it男女操逼视频软件檚 a way to get behind the scenes a little bit and get a sense of what男女操逼视频软件檚 going on when someone puts in a prompt.
More recently, there男女操逼视频软件檚 been a lot more AI projects, more websites, and more widespread use. A couple of my students, for example, have been using in Photoshop. I was surprised to learn how respectful they were being男女操逼视频软件攖hey were using it for parts of an image, to complete an object they couldn男女操逼视频软件檛 get, or a certain area of an image to enhance or embellish.
I think the best way to deal with AI in the classroom is to talk about it, to make it a part of assignments, and dissect the nuances of how it can be used and how it affects art男女操逼视频软件擨男女操逼视频软件檓 using it myself, after all, even if the way I男女操逼视频软件檓 using it is to create larger commentary.
How has the introduction of AI changed the way you approach your own work?
Because I男女操逼视频软件檝e worked with digital media since the mid-90s男女操逼视频软件攚e男女操逼视频软件檝e always been presented with these evolving media男女操逼视频软件攖he internet, social media, augmented reality, and so on.
With these technologies, we as artists have always looked for ways to use them男女操逼视频软件攁nd misuse them. To jam them or do things they weren男女操逼视频软件檛 meant to do. I男女操逼视频软件檓 very used to that way of dealing with technology, and it男女操逼视频软件檚 still what I do. This is what I男女操逼视频软件檓 doing with AI, trying to get it to do something that most users of AI are not interested in, that reveals the way it really works.
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As someone well-versed in the relationship between digital media and art男女操逼视频软件攊n what ways is AI different that the technologies that have preceded it, and i what ways is it similar? Do you feel that GenAI represents an existential threat to art?
One thing to mention in the realm of art is to understand男女操逼视频软件攚hy would artists want to use various technologies to make their work, and what is the relationship between the artist and the machine? This is an idea that goes back to the early part of the 20th century, the Surrealists and Dada art movement, at a time when the industrial revolution was still progressing, and it was producing all types of war equipment.
Through these movements, these artists identified the machine in acting as a way that was counter to the human ego. Surrealism was the idea that the machine could better get at something that was dreamlike, as opposed to humans who are always trying to preserve their realities. And that plays a role as to why artists get interested in computer technologies and AI in particular男女操逼视频软件攁nd has certainly been part of my interest. Using the machine to show us something that is revealing, or unconscious at a certain level.
It still requires human interaction, and we still should be very aware that at this point, AI wouldn男女操逼视频软件檛 be anything without humans. We男女操逼视频软件檙e the giant database from which AI draws upon to produce good work. There wouldn男女操逼视频软件檛 be good writing in Chat GPT, it男女操逼视频软件檚 sourcing everything from us.
As creators, we never come into work in a vacuum. We男女操逼视频软件檙e using history, other experiments, already accomplished science and art to build upon or tear down男女操逼视频软件攚e男女操逼视频软件檙e never coming into anything on a completely blank slate. The more originality in art is discussed, the more it男女操逼视频软件檚 realized that everything is based on old works. This is not to say that things aren男女操逼视频软件檛 done originally, that there aren男女操逼视频软件檛 breakthroughs and moments where people really try new things. But without this basis of pre-existing civilization男女操逼视频软件攁nd the internet as the database男女操逼视频软件攗ltimately, it男女操逼视频软件檚 this huge and rich library that男女操逼视频软件檚 being accessed to create art, whether through AI or not.
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