AI for Artists

The workshop will introduce the concepts underpinning what's currently called AI and explore how artists have been using and responding to the technology of mass data analysis. From image manipulation to government surveillance, AI underpins much of modern life yet is often intangible and invisible. By the end of this workshop you'll have a clear understanding of how the technology works, have started to grapple with its implications and be ready to start making art with and/or about it.

The workshop will be led by artist, Pete Ashton.  Pete has been exploring the potentials and implications of recent developments in AI / Machine Learning. This workshop is aimed at artists and creative practitioners who are intrigued by this new technology but do not necessarily have the technical chops to dive in head first. No computing knowledge is necessary.

The workshop will cover the following:

• What the technology is
• How it works
• What its being used for by industry
• How artists have been experimenting with the tech.
• Criticisms of industrial applications of tech (Kate Crawford et al)
• Artistic commentaries on AI, Big Data, etc
• Lots of conversations

Practical things we will be doing:

• Use the online Deep Dream generator https://deepdreamgenerator.com
• t-SNE sort some images.

References / resources:

• Gene Kogan's Machine Learning for Artists
• Instructions for Humans research and exhibition.
• Kyle McDonald's article A Return to Machine Learning

More about the workshop lead here: