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AI Art Is Soft Propaganda for the Global North

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Summary

AI art is a growing trend in the AI race, but it is problematic due to its reliance on capital and capitalism and the exploitation of cultural capital. AI-generated images are not actually "creative", but instead are probabilistic approximations of features of existing artworks. AI art is being used to promote an ideology of prediction, reinforcing the idea that anything can be predicted and controlled, which is the operating system of the Global North. This ideology is being used to motivate hyperbolic claims of machines’ general intelligence in order to gain financial gain, which is unfortunately having a negative impact on society. AI art is ultimately a form of soft propaganda for the ideology of prediction, and it is important to look for artists who are creating unexpected technologies and risky artistic languages instead.

Q&As

What is AI art and how is it created?
AI art is algorithmic systems based on deep learning and probabilistic learning that produce two-dimensional visual artifacts matching a user’s prompt. They are created by compounding computational models for natural language processing, computer vision, and image synthesis into Frankenstein-like systems.

What cultural implications does AI art have?
AI art has implications of exploitation of cultural capital, propagation of the idea that creativity can be isolated from embodiment, relations, and socio-cultural contexts, and soft propaganda for the ideology of prediction.

How do AI image generators exploit existing artwork?
AI image generators exploit enormous datasets of images scraped from the web without authors’ consent, and many of those images are original artworks by both dead and living artists. They amalgamate abstract features of existing artworks into pastiches.

How is the ideology of prediction reinforced through AI art?
The ideology of prediction is reinforced through AI art by exploiting culture and art to motivate hyperbolic claims of machines’ general intelligence and by tying the art to the paradigm and politics of ever-large models, increasing capital, and marketing hyperbole.

What is the alternative future of art proposed by the author?
The alternative future of art proposed by the author is one of unpredictable machine learning tools, artworks as outliers of trends, affirmative perversions of technology, and grassroots development of creative instruments.

AI Comments

👍 This thought-provoking article provides an interesting perspective on the impact of AI art and the implications it has on the Global North.

👎 This article paints an overly bleak picture of AI art, failing to recognize its potential for creative expression.

AI Discussion

Me: It talks about a new trend in artificial intelligence, AI art, and its implications on culture and society. It's basically a warning against AI art, because of its ties to capital and the Global North, and its reliance on existing artworks without consent from the artists. It also critiques the idea that creativity can be modeled mathematically and the ideology of prediction that it perpetuates.

Friend: Wow, that's really interesting. It sounds like a really important issue we should be paying attention to. What are the implications of this trend?

Me: Well, the article raises some important points about the implications of AI art, including the exploitation of cultural capital, the propagation of the idea that creativity can be modeled mathematically, and the reinforcement of an ideology of prediction in the Global North. It also highlights the danger of AI-generated images being used to motivate hyperbolic claims of machines’ general intelligence. This could lead to an increased reliance on algorithmic systems in areas like welfare, justice, employment, finance, and warfare, which could have serious implications for society.

Action items

Research the ethical implications of AI art and its reliance on capital and capitalism.
Explore the potential of AI art as a tool for creative expression and its implications for art practice.
Investigate the ideology of prediction and its role in the Global North, and consider ways to challenge it through art and technology.

Technical terms

AI Art: Art created by artificial intelligence algorithms.
Deep Learning: A type of machine learning algorithm that uses multiple layers of neural networks to process data.
Natural Language Processing (NLP): A type of artificial intelligence that enables computers to understand and process human language.
Computer Vision: A type of artificial intelligence that enables computers to interpret and understand visual data.
Image Synthesis: The process of creating a digital image from a set of data.
GPT-3: A type of natural language processing algorithm developed by OpenAI.
Stable Diffusion: A type of AI image generator developed by StabilityAI.
Manifold: A mathematical structure that contains all the possible combinations of data points.
Gaussian Noise: A type of random noise used to filter signal noise in the form of a coherent image.
Stochastic Sampling: A type of sampling where samples are randomly selected from a set of data.
Ideology of Prediction: The belief that anything can be predicted and, by extension, controlled.