Martijn van de Meent

No ratings yet.

Artists are usually considered to be the least at risk of losing their jobs to automation. Art forms such as music and painting are generally viewed as something ‘deeply human’ – we distinguish ourselves from animals on the basis that we can express emotions through abstract thinking. But what happens if machines can learn how to create music or make paintings?

An example of art generated by machine learning is the DeepJazz project, which was built by a 20-year old Princeton student named Ji-Sung Kim in only 36 hours. This program has learned itself to create jazz music which can’t be discerned from human-made jazz.

AI-generated art is not limited to music as machines have also learnt how to paint. An AI, named “min G max D Ex[log(D(x))] + Ez[log(1-D(G(z)))], was fed 15,000 portraits from the 14th to 20th century from an online art encyclopedia and learned how to create a portrait on its own. The AI created a portrait named “Edmond de Belamy, from La Famille de Belamy,” sold for $432,000 at an art auction in New York.

Creative AI can undoubtedly be dubbed the art revolution of the 21st century. Arthur Miller, a historian of science interested in AI-powered creativity, believes that machine learning will surpass humans in all ways, including art. Artist Casey Reas provides us with a more positive outlook on AI-generated art. Reas believes that in the process of working with machine learning, the artist actually uses AI as a discrete set of tools (like a brush and paint or a musical instrument).
Whether you choose to side with Miller or Reas, Creative AI is undeniably a potential disruptor in the field of art. I personally believe that AI could help us to think about art and create art in ways that no human has ever thought of before.

What do you think about the possible impact of AI on fine art? Is it a threat or an opportunity?

References:

https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/1/18192858/adobe-sensei-celsys-clip-studio-colorize-ai-artificial-intelligence-art

AI-Generated Portrait Sells for $432K at Auction in World’s First

https://hackernoon.com/assessing-the-impact-of-ai-on-fine-art-threat-or-opportunity-vz1532wj

https://aeon.co/ideas/there-is-no-such-thing-as-computer-art-it-s-all-just-art

5/5 (4)

Many people all around the world are afraid of having their jobs stolen by robots. A report conducted by the McKinsey Global Institute estimates that automation will eliminate 39 to 73 million US jobs by 2030. While the people whose jobs are at risk might see automation and robots as a curse, there are some countries who might see it as a blessing – countries such as Japan.

As you may know, Japan is known for being the ‘oldest country in the world’. More than 20% of the Japanese population is over 65 years old, the highest proportion in the world. By 2030 this proportion will have grown to over 33%. There are two fundamental reasons for Japans ageing population: increasing life expectancy and a declining fertility rate. While the number of retired Japanese is growing, there are not enough young people to fill this void. Japan is particularly expected to face big issues when it comes to healthcare and long-term care. Due to the shrinking workforce, there is a reasonable risk that there will not be enough healthcare professionals to deliver the needed care.

The solution for this problem could be closer than one might think. Apart from being the oldest country in the world, Japan is also known as the world’s leading ‘Robot Nation’. In 2012 Japan made up nearly 50% of the total global market share in the export of robots. Japanese nursing homes are now experimenting with different kinds of robots that support staff in taking care of their patients. Robotic animals are used as therapy for dementia and loneliness while other robots help nurses to lift heavy patients out of bed.

Japan is not the only country that encounters these demographic issues. Western countries are also facing a shrinking workforce and aging population in the future. While robots are commonly accepted in Japan, Western pop culture often depicts robots as dangerous machines that could revolt against humanity. US- and EU-citizens might not be too eager to welcome robots into their nursing homes. What would you do? Would you let a robot take care of your loved ones?

References:
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/332468#:~:text=A%20recently%20released%20report%20conducted,loss%2C%20perhaps%20without%20knowing%20it.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/09/elderly-oldest-population-world-japan/
https://www.eoswetenschap.eu/gezondheid/wereldwijde-vergrijzing
https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/whyutokyo/wj_003.html#:~:text=In%20recent%20years%2C%20robotics%20has,and%20number%20of%20operating%20units.
https://www.wired.com/story/ideas-joi-ito-robot-overlords/

Creative AI: a threat or an opportunity to the human artist?

5

Please rate this

The Rise of The Robot Nurse.

23

Please rate this