Recent Articles

Someday, artificial intelligence could become so advanced that it gains the ability to think creatively — and, perhaps, so vastly surpasses humanity’s artistic abilities that it would have to explain its creations to our squishy, primitive brains. At least, that’s one of the predictions that physicist, philosopher, and creativity scholar Arthur Miller makes in his new book, “The … Read more

Thrilled to be excerpted in Papaya Rocks. Today, computers are creating an extraordinary new world of images, sounds, and stories such as we have never experienced before. Gerfried Stocker, the outspoken artistic director of Ars Electronica in Linz, says provocatively, “Rather than asking whether machines can be creative and produce art, the question should be, … Read more

Have you heard the one about a robot who walks into a bar? “What can I get you?” asks the bartender. “I need something to loosen me up,” says the robot. So the bartender serves him a screwdriver. Not exactly side-splittingly funny but not bad either. I’ll bet you wouldn’t have guessed that a computer … Read more

In 1997 IBM’s Deep Blue famously defeated chess Grand Master Garry Kasparov after a titanic battle. It had actually lost to him the previous year, though he conceded that it seemed to possess “a weird kind of intelligence.” To play Kasparov, Deep Blue had been pre-programmed with intricate software, including an extensive playbook with moves … Read more

Art and science have often collided, but in the 21st century they have fused instead of bouncing off one another with particularly interesting ramifications for AI. I survey this in ‘The colliding worlds of art and science’ .

In October 2018, for the first time in its history, Christie’s in New York auctioned an artwork created by an AI. Portrait of Edmond de Belamy, the work of the French art collective Obvious, went on auction with an estimated price of $7,000 to $10,000. In the end, it sold to an anonymous phone bidder … Read more