[FRIAM] In praise of neural nets

[Pieter Steenekamp]

Artificial intelligence has come a long way, and today it’s even part of
the art world. With AI, we can now create paintings, music, poetry, and
even films that look or sound just like they were made by people. In some
ways, this is amazing because it shows how far technology has come. But it
also raises some tricky questions, especially when people take art made by
AI and pretend they made it themselves. This can make us wonder about
honesty and the value of human creativity.

The art that AI can create is really impressive. AI programs, or “neural
networks,” learn by studying tons of images, music, and other creative
works that humans made. After training on this information, AI can now
create new works that seem as beautiful or interesting as things made by
humans. Some people even say that AI might be able to create things that go
beyond what people can imagine because it doesn’t have the same limits that
humans do. AI can mix and match ideas in ways we might not think of. This
gives us a new kind of “artist”—one that isn’t human but that can still
surprise and inspire us.

But when people use AI art and claim it as their own, it can feel
dishonest. Claiming AI work as human-made can make people doubt the value
of real art, which often takes years of practice and emotion to create.
Human artists put effort, time, and a lot of themselves into their work.
When someone passes off AI art as their own, it ignores the hard work and
creativity that real artists put into their creations. It can also lead
people to question if what they’re seeing or hearing is truly unique or
simply something that a computer was told to make.

>From a cultural point of view, art is a way for people to connect, express
themselves, and share experiences. Art feels personal, and it creates a
bond between the artist and the audience. When people falsely claim they
created AI art, it breaks this bond of trust. If people start doubting
where art comes from, it could make them feel disconnected from the art
they see. So while AI can add something special to the creative process, it
becomes a problem when people hide the fact that AI was involved.

The real question isn’t whether AI should be used in art—because it
definitely has a place—but how we should give credit where it’s due. One
way to do this is by being honest and open about how art is created, even
if AI played a part. If artists and creators are clear about when AI helped
them, it helps the audience appreciate the work for what it really is. Just
like how we credit both the photographer and the subject in a photo, we can
credit both the AI and the human in a piece of AI art. This honesty lets us
celebrate the work as a team effort—AI’s technical skills mixed with the
human’s creative vision.

In the end, AI is a powerful tool that can open new doors in art, but it’s
important to use it in a way that’s fair and truthful. AI art is
impressive, and we should appreciate it for what it is, but pretending it’s
human-made is unfair to real artists. By being open about AI’s role, we can
make sure this new technology makes the art world more interesting without
taking away from the genuine work of human creators. Art made with both AI
and human effort can be something new and exciting—a mix of technology and
creativity that we can enjoy, as long as we’re honest about where it comes
from.

On Thu, 7 Nov 2024 at 05:45, Jon Zingale <jonzingale at gmail.com> wrote:

> biological or otherwise...
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