News/The Arts
Duke University’s AI Art Experiment Reveals Promise and Limitations of AI in Creative Fields
Groundbreaking AI experiment in art curation: Duke University's Nasher Museum of Art recently conducted a pioneering experiment, leveraging artificial intelligence to curate an art exhibition from its extensive collection. The museum employed a large language model, similar to ChatGPT, to select and organize artworks for display. This innovative approach aimed to explore the potential of AI in the traditionally human-dominated field of art curation. The experiment shed light on both the capabilities and current limitations of AI in replicating complex human cognitive processes. Initial AI limitations and customization: The AI system initially faced challenges in accurately selecting appropriate artworks, highlighting...
read Jul 25, 2024Nike is Using Generative AI to Create Custom Shoe Designs
Nike is leveraging generative AI to create custom shoe designs in collaboration with star athletes, demonstrating the technology's potential to enhance creativity and personalization in the design process. Athlete-inspired AI revolution: Nike's "Art of Victory" exhibition in Paris showcases prototype shoes designed with and for individual athletes across basketball, track, soccer, and tennis, with AI playing a key role in the ideation process: The exhibition features custom designs for basketball stars A'ja Wilson and Victor Wembanyama, sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson, and soccer legends Sam Kerr and Kylian Mbappé, among others. Alongside the final prototype for each athlete, Nike displayed smaller gray...
read Jul 22, 2024Sakana’s Latest AI Models Are Recreating Historic Japanese Ukiyo-e Art
The AI startup Sakana AI has released two new image generation models focused on recreating Japan's historic ukiyo-e art style, aiming to spread appreciation for Japanese culture and find applications in education and literature. Bringing ukiyo-e art to the modern era with AI: Sakana AI's new models, Evo-Ukiyoe and Evo-Nishikie, generate images closely resembling the Japanese ukiyo-e art style that flourished between the 17th and 19th centuries: Evo-Ukiyoe is a text-to-image model that generates ukiyo-e style images based on text prompts, even allowing for the inclusion of modern elements like hamburgers or laptops, though results may sometimes deviate from the...
read Jul 22, 2024AI in Music: Balancing Innovation and Human Creativity
The rapid advancements in generative AI are sparking both excitement and concern in the music industry, as AI-powered tools promise to democratize music creation while potentially displacing human musicians and creators. AI's limitations in creating truly meaningful music: While AI can replicate musical patterns and generate convincing clips, it lacks the human elements that make music resonate with listeners on a deep level: Successful music depends on an artist's unique voice, life experiences, and the ability to break rules and subvert expectations, qualities that algorithms struggle to replicate. The shared cultural experience of people connecting with the same songs is...
read Jul 13, 2024AI Boosts Individual Creativity but May Homogenize Collective Output, Study Finds
New research suggests generative AI can enhance individual creativity but may homogenize collective output. The study, published in Science Advances, found that while AI tools like GPT-4 improved the creative output of less inherently creative writers, it had little impact on those who were already highly creative. Key findings: AI's impact on individual creativity depends on inherent ability; The researchers divided participants into three groups: one relying solely on their own ideas, another with the option to receive a single AI-generated story idea, and a third with access to up to five AI-generated ideas: The vast majority (88.4%) of participants...
read Jul 11, 2024Etsy Balances AI and Authenticity with New “Creativity Standards” for Sellers
Etsy introduces new "Creativity Standards" to address the rise of AI-generated products on its platform, aiming to maintain transparency and authenticity for buyers. Key changes in Etsy's seller policies: Etsy has revised its seller guidelines to require clear labeling of products based on the level of human involvement in their creation: The "Handmade" label applies to items physically made by the seller or with the help of tools like 3D printers. The new "Designed" label is for products created using AI or other digital tools, ensuring buyers know they may not be entirely handmade. Balancing AI and handmade products: While...
read Jul 6, 2024Artists Flock to New Tools to Prevent AI Mimicry and Theft
There is a growing demand for solutions that protect artists from AI systems that can mimic their unique styles, but challenges loom regarding their long-term effectiveness. Glaze, a popular tool designed to prevent style mimicry and discourage unauthorized data scraping, has seen a surge in requests, leading to significant delays in approving access for artists. Nevertheless, a recent attack by security researchers has called into question the effectiveness of Glaze's protections. Rising demand for AI protections amid evolving threats: As AI image generators continue to improve and platforms update their terms to allow for more extensive data scraping, artists are...
read Jul 4, 2024Artists Flock to Glaze Amid AI Threat, But Effectiveness Questioned
As AI image generators continue to advance and replicate a wider range of unique artistic styles, many artists are seeking tools to protect their work from being used for AI training without consent or compensation. The Glaze Project, which offers tools to prevent AI mimicry and even poison AI models, has seen a dramatic surge in demand amid this rapidly evolving landscape. Overwhelming demand strains Glaze's resources: The Glaze Project is struggling to keep up with the skyrocketing number of requests for access to its tools, particularly the invite-only web-based version, WebGlaze: The backlog for approving requests is growing, with...
read Jun 28, 2024AI’s Rapid Rise: Reshaping the Future of Creative Work and Writing Skills
As AI models like Claude become more capable of mimicking human writing styles, it raises questions about what skills and qualities will remain valuable for human writers and creators. Key takeaways: The author highlights the importance of avoiding "capability blindness" - the assumption that technology won't drastically improve over time: People often believe things will remain static and fail to notice significant advancements in AI capabilities, such as Claude's ability to write in a human-like voice for short, repetitive tasks. Recognizing the potential for AI to continue improving at a rapid pace is crucial for understanding how it will impact...
read Jun 27, 2024Google’s Imagen 3 Launches on Vertex AI, Transforming Text-to-Image Generation
Google's Imagen 3 text-to-image foundation model is now available in preview on the company's Vertex AI platform, offering enhanced capabilities for generating high-quality images from text prompts. Key features of Imagen 3 on Vertex AI: The updated model brings several improvements to the text-to-image generation process, making it more accessible and powerful for developers: Faster image generation, better prompt understanding, and more photorealistic output, especially when generating images of people Greater control over text rendering within the generated images Multi-language support, safety features like SynthID digital watermarking, and multiple aspect ratio support Early adopter feedback: Shutterstock, a stock photography provider,...
read Jun 27, 2024Baggu’s AI-Designed Bags Spark Debate on Ethics and Transparency in Fashion
The launch of a collaboration between popular reusable bag brand Baggu and designer Collina Strada has sparked controversy due to the use of AI-generated designs, highlighting the complex debate surrounding AI in art and fashion. Customer backlash and concerns: The revelation that some prints in the collection were created using AI image generator Midjourney led to a strong negative reaction from some customers: Many felt there was a lack of transparency around the use of AI, with some saying they were unaware of it when placing orders and wanting more prominent disclaimers. Others objected on moral grounds, arguing that AI...
read Jun 26, 2024Elon Musk’s Grok Chatbot May Integrate Midjourney’s AI Image Generation
In a surprise development, AI image generation platform Midjourney could soon be integrated into Elon Musk's Grok chatbot, according to recent hints found in Grok's source code and statements made by Musk himself. Potential partnership in the works: Elon Musk has been teasing a collaboration between his AI chatbot Grok and Midjourney since February, with recent evidence in Grok's source code further cementing the likelihood of this integration: Musk participated in an X Spaces conversation where he hinted at "interesting discussions" with Midjourney, suggesting AI image generation capabilities could be coming to the X platform. Developers found a reference to...
read Jun 25, 2024Startup Helps Authors License Work to AI, Navigating Rights in New Era
A startup called Created by Humans is launching to help book authors license their work to AI companies, aiming to create a framework for AI rights and broker deals between authors, publishers, and AI firms. Filling a void in the market: Created by Humans seeks to address the lack of universal permissioning and monetization systems for creative content used to train large language models: The startup is one of several emerging to help creators navigate the complex landscape of licensing their work for use in AI technologies. Co-founder and CEO Trip Adler brings years of experience working with book authors...
read Jun 21, 2024Entertainment and Marketing Creatives Are Actually Optimistic About AI, Study Finds
A majority of entertainment and marketing creatives are optimistic about AI's potential to elevate content, according to a new study from talent agency UTA. The survey reveals a significant shift in attitudes as the industries move from fear and resistance to curiosity and excitement about AI's possibilities. Key findings: The study, conducted in mid-May 2024, interviewed nearly 300 creative professionals in marketing and advertising and over 200 in entertainment: 73% of all creatives believe AI will elevate content, with 75% of current AI users saying they are creating higher-quality work. 76% of entertainment creatives said AI will "make more things...
read Jun 21, 2024London Cinema Cancels AI-Written Film, Sparking Debate on Technology’s Role in Arts
London cinema cancels screening of AI-written film amid concerns over the technology's impact on the industry, drawing praise from filmgoers for listening to its audience. The controversial film: The Prince Charles Cinema in Soho was set to premiere The Last Screenwriter, a movie written by the AI chatbot ChatGPT, on June 23: The film follows a character named Jack who fears for his job after discovering an AI script writing program that matches and even surpasses his own writing skills and empathy. The cinema's decision to screen the film raised concerns among filmgoers about the use of AI replacing human...
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