Designers
Designers
Designers
COMPUTER KIN
an artistic exploration and ethnography on the relationships between humans and AI.
Designers
Kimberly Jean Baldo
Key Words
SUMMARY
Overconsumption and over-saturation due to technological evolution have affected societal and cultural norms in the late 20th and beginning of the 21st century. Interactions and functions of life online and IRL have become impersonal and disingenuous. The implementation of modern digital technologies into daily life, such as generative AI, has called into question the authenticity of work and the moral and ethical implications of its utilization within the space of artistic practice. COMPUTER KIN addresses these concerns through the exploration and utilization of these technologies, not only to understand their impact but to display and define an embrace of technological advancement that still protects the human essence of being an artist.
challenge
Studying the evolution of technology in juxtaposition with human advancement displays a pattern of influence on each other. Throughout this evolution, we have seen rapid growth to the point of publicly accessible AI use. While AI is not a new technology, it has reached a point of rapid evolution, growing increasingly every day. We have reached a point where we can’t ignore the utilization of AI any longer, but it is still young so we must act now to define the ethical and creative environment in which it should be utilized. It is especially becoming more prevalent in creative industries that protections are more important than ever with the exploitation and misappropriation of voices, likenesses, and countless other unique human details.
Outcome
Through this research, I cultivated an exhibition highlighting the ethical utilization of AI within artistic practice. Working together with artists of different mediums I conceptualized creative directions and curated pieces to represent the impact of AI in conjunction with the human essence required to be an artist. These works displayed ways in which these artists utilized AI, from DALL-E sketch reference images to Photoshop AI editorial styling. Using AI tools, these artists were able to create imagery in ways they would not have been able to access or afford. Although these pieces would not have been possible in the same manner without AI, they would not exist without the artists who conceptualized and executed them either.
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