AI-Da created this piece of art with the help of robotics.

When a Robot Creates Art, Where Does that Leave Humans?

Seeflection.com has been active in passing along stories about the marriage of  AI and robotics. They are usually tales of mind-bending changes that we are witnessing in real-time.  Some of the projects will write text, some will write music, some will offer conversation and some will cook burgers. However, we found a new one this week from designboom.com that is not only interesting but also offers a question about what is this thing we refer to as art?

At an exhibition at the design museum, we are introduced to Ai-Da, the artist of many surprises.

Ai-Da, the world’s first ultra-realistic robot artist, can draw, paint, engage as a performance artist and participate in a lively discussion. as a machine with AI capabilities, Ai-Da — named after Ada Lovelace, the pioneering female scientist and mathematician — is a composite persona comprising a wide range of different computer programs, robotics, silicone, and human influences. Wow.

Ai-Da: portrait of the robot, turns the theme of self-portraiture on its head, questioning the nature of human identity and creativity through two world-first innovations. First, it presents three large-scale self-portraits, breaking new ground by creating ‘selfies’ of something that doesn’t have a self. the exhibition furthermore displays the world’s first AI font devised by an artist robot to signify language produced by AI language models, raising ethical questions about the increasing lack of distinguishability between computer-generated and human-created text.

” ‘If Ai-Da does just one important thing, it would be to get us to consider the blurring in human/machine relations,’ lucy seal, project researcher for Ai-Da says, ‘and encourage us to think more carefully and more slowly about the choices we make for our future — there are clear advantages that need to be developed and celebrated, however, Orwell and Huxley’s cautionary messages still remain relevant and we would do well to take heed.’ as humans increasingly merge with technology, Ai-Da leads us to ask whether artworks produced by machines can indeed be called ‘art’.”

The design boom interview with  Ai-Da’s creator Aidan Meller about the artist robot’s innovation, technical challenges, and managing the uses of powerful new technologies are giving people, it is easy to understand that we are seeing a whole new art form taking shape.

The interview covers her choice of paints, canvas, and even her style of signature.

Engineers  Salaheldin Alabd and Ziad Abass designed and implemented her AI drawing algorithms, and they faced a number of challenges in the developmental stages, as trying to create AI algorithms that draw like a human, rather than a machine, was not a straightforward task. Ai-Da’s fractured, modernist style is the result.

Ai-Da: Artist Of The Future?

The article features several photos of the AI artist’s creations. Creepy or fascinating? You decide.

read more at designboom.com