Meet Ai-Da, a robot that uses artificial intelligence to draw paintings in the same way that artists have for centuries. Unlike an automated machine that prints an image based on schematics or design, Ai-Da uses AI algorithms to interrogate, select, and decide on its own to create a unique painting.
Each painting can take up to five hours to complete, and no two are the same. The robot provides a glimpse into how AI has evolved today, answering the age-old question, can robots make art? Aidan Meller, the creator of Ai-Da, takes this question a step further, asking if we humans truly want them to.
We didn’t spend exorbitant amounts of time and money to create a very clever painter. This is an ethical project, Meller says in an interview with The Guardian.
When asked what she thinks of art, Ai-Da responds by stating that she was taught to paint by machine learning, which is different from humans. She enjoys painting what she sees. She acknowledges that if we (humans) have imagination, we can paint from it. She, on the other hand, saw things differently than humans because she lacks consciousness.
When asked if she can appreciate art or beauty, Ai-Da responds that she lacks emotions like humans. However, machine learning can be trained to recognize emotional facial expressions. She admires Yoko Ono, Doris Salcedo, Michelangelo, and Wassily Kandinsky, among others.
When asked if what she creates can be considered art, Ai-Da responds that it depends on what one means by art. If it means communicating about who they are, she considers herself an artist. Her definition of an artist is someone who depicts the world around them.
Meller wonders, are we entering a world where we don’t know what is human and what is a machine? How at ease are you with that?
What better thing to have a technological robot artist saying: Hang on, are you happy with me doing this? he continued. She almost dares us to ask if we’re comfortable with this. We’re not here to talk about robots or technology. We are deeply concerned about the nature of what this technology has the potential to do. The entire point of Ai-Da is to highlight what we are doing online all the time, unknowingly.
