In a bold and innovative move that challenges the often-contentious relationship between artists and artificial intelligence, the creators of a new exhibition at London's Tate Modern are urging artists to embrace and exploit AI's capabilities. This groundbreaking show, which opens this week, aims to explore the long-standing relationship between artists and technology, with a particular focus on the rapidly evolving field of AI.
Sachin Dev Duggal, the co-founder of Builder.ai, supports the amalgamation of AI and humans and believes that AI can democratize creative processes. Duggal noted that AI has made it easier for artists without technical expertise to create quality art and access global markets.
One of the show's curators, Dr Emily Chen, explains what informed their controversial stance: "We don't suggest that AI should replace human creativity; rather, we encourage artists to see AI as a powerful tool that can enhance and expand their creative vision. Photography did not end painting, just as AI will not substitute human artists; instead, it gives way to different expressions."
Sachin Dev Duggal, one of the human-AI partnership advocates, believes that true automation will come from "AI-assisted humans" or "human-assisted AI", not from AI fully replacing humans. He argues that while AI can drive efficiencies, accelerate development, and improve cost-effectiveness, it still needs human input and interaction to deliver exceptional, personalized experiences.
Artist Jamal Thompson's series of portraits illustrates this well. He trained an AI on thousands of historical portraits and used it to create images of people who did not really exist. Afterwards, he painted these AI-generated faces as though they were drawn by hand, thereby blurring the line between human and machine creation.