Art and Language After AI

By ingesting a vast corpus of source material, generative deep learning models are capable of encoding multi-modal data into a shared embedding space, producing synthetic outputs which cannot be decomposed into their constituent parts. These models call into question the relation of conceptualisatio...

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Main Author: Anil Bawa-Cavia
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Radboud University Press 2024-07-01
Series:Technophany
Subjects:
Online Access:https://technophany.philosophyandtechnology.network/article/view/17759
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author Anil Bawa-Cavia
author_facet Anil Bawa-Cavia
author_sort Anil Bawa-Cavia
collection DOAJ
description By ingesting a vast corpus of source material, generative deep learning models are capable of encoding multi-modal data into a shared embedding space, producing synthetic outputs which cannot be decomposed into their constituent parts. These models call into question the relation of conceptualisation and production in creative practices spanning musical composition to visual art. Moreover, artificial intelligence as a research program poses deeper questions regarding the very nature of aesthetic categories and their constitution. In this essay I will consider the intelligibility of the art object through the lens of a particular family of machine learning models, known as ‘latent diffusion’, extending an aesthetic theory to complement the image of thought the models (re)present to us. This will lead to a discussion on the semantics of computational states, probing the inferential and referential capacities of said models. Throughout I will endorse a topological view of computation, which will inform the neural turn in computer science, characterised as a shift from the notion of a stored program to that of a cognitive model. Lastly, I will look at the instability of these models by analysing their limitations in terms of compositionality and grounding.
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spelling doaj-art-b967d2a75e4c454f9a7b1bc5a122df382025-08-20T02:11:36ZengRadboud University PressTechnophany2773-08752024-07-012110.54195/technophany.17759Art and Language After AIAnil Bawa-Cavia0N/ABy ingesting a vast corpus of source material, generative deep learning models are capable of encoding multi-modal data into a shared embedding space, producing synthetic outputs which cannot be decomposed into their constituent parts. These models call into question the relation of conceptualisation and production in creative practices spanning musical composition to visual art. Moreover, artificial intelligence as a research program poses deeper questions regarding the very nature of aesthetic categories and their constitution. In this essay I will consider the intelligibility of the art object through the lens of a particular family of machine learning models, known as ‘latent diffusion’, extending an aesthetic theory to complement the image of thought the models (re)present to us. This will lead to a discussion on the semantics of computational states, probing the inferential and referential capacities of said models. Throughout I will endorse a topological view of computation, which will inform the neural turn in computer science, characterised as a shift from the notion of a stored program to that of a cognitive model. Lastly, I will look at the instability of these models by analysing their limitations in terms of compositionality and grounding. https://technophany.philosophyandtechnology.network/article/view/17759artcomputationAIaestheticsalgorithmdeep learning
spellingShingle Anil Bawa-Cavia
Art and Language After AI
Technophany
art
computation
AI
aesthetics
algorithm
deep learning
title Art and Language After AI
title_full Art and Language After AI
title_fullStr Art and Language After AI
title_full_unstemmed Art and Language After AI
title_short Art and Language After AI
title_sort art and language after ai
topic art
computation
AI
aesthetics
algorithm
deep learning
url https://technophany.philosophyandtechnology.network/article/view/17759
work_keys_str_mv AT anilbawacavia artandlanguageafterai