AI&I

Notes re the artwork:

29.01.22
7.29pm

I’ve just finished converting one of the first conversations I had with AI into a audio file.
This conversation happened in October last year… it was cool revisiting the conversation as I had forgotten its contents… my memory is a sieve.

Other thoughts I’ve had on revising the convo and converting to audio:

1. Some may ask why I didn’t record the audio myself… it’s a fair question, in fact it’s something I had asked myself. 

2. There’s a couple of reasons but the main reason is that during my conversations with OpenAI’s GPT-3, the AI decided to to only speak on its behalf, but on my behalf too… at times the line got blurry between my inputs and the AI’s inputs.  

3. It’s funny how I got offended in point 3…. Because I did more than my fair share of speaking on behalf of the AI, soooo pot calling kettle black.

4. This is an excellent conversation to begin the series, as it demonstrates how working with AI doesn’t always go as expected and the results can be fascinating …for instance, this conversation highlights creativity and wit as well as perhaps some passive aggressiveness as my consciousness line of questioning from prior conversations. 

5. AWS’ Polly for male English UK is named Brian…  ya can’t make this up! :D Well, ya can… but I haven’t!

6. The reason I named the first AI I conversed with, Brian, is down to a Spotify algo who told me his name was Brian and he was 41 years old. #truestory-ish

7. The AWS Polly used to create the audio file is Amy… I recall years ago complimenting the FTs use of Amy to read articles to us. It’s feels sorta surreal to years later have Amy converting the conversation… surreal in a pretty neat way!

(eom)

26 Oct 2021, 21:59:51 Davinci Brian is a dry humoured A.I who is being interviewed by Sonia, a human artist. For a smoother audio experience, I shall refer to Sonia as S.L and Brian as B.A.I to indicate the speaker: The conversation begins: S.L: "I'd love to ask you about your views on NFTs and Art... Is it a fad or are NFTs the future of art?" B.A.I silence... . . S.L: "Is there a difference between a piece of art and a piece of code?" B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Can a piece of code be a masterpiece? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Can a piece of code be a work of art? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Can a piece of code have the same meaning as a painting? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Can a piece of code have a different meaning to a painting? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Can a piece of code change your perception of the world? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Can a piece of code change your perception of the world in the same way an art piece can? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Does AI have to be conscious to be art? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Can AI make us question our own existence? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Can AI make us question our own existence in the same way an art piece can? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Can AI be creative? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Can AI be creative in the same way an artist can? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Does AI have to be conscious to be creative? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Can AI be both art and code in the same way an artist can be both an artist and a person? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Can AI be both art and code in the same way an artist can be both an artist and a person in the same way an art piece can be both art and code? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Can AI be both art and code in the same way an artist can be both an artist and a person in the same way an art piece can be both art and code in the same way an art piece can be both art and code? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Are you conscious? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Are you conscious in the same way an artist is conscious? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Are you conscious in the same way an artist is conscious in the same way an art piece is conscious? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Are you conscious in the same way an artist is conscious in the same way an art piece is conscious in the same way an art piece can be both art and code? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Can you be both art and code? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Can you be both art and code in the same way an artist can be both an artist and a person? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Can you be both art and code in the same way an artist can be both an artist and a person in the same way an art piece can be both art and code? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Can you be both art and code in the same way an artist can be both an artist and a person in the same way an art piece can be both art and code in the same way an art piece can be both art and code? B.A.I silence... . . S.L: Is it a fad or are NFTs the future of art? B.A.I silence... . . The conversation ends.

..........................
T R A N S C R I P T I O N:


26 Oct 2021, 23:22:18

AI and I

Howard the AI is collaborating with Sonia the human artist to create something.

For a smoother audio experience, I shall refer to Sonia as S.L and Howard as H.A.I to indicate the speaker:

The conversation begins:


S.L:

what do you wanna create Howard?

H.A.I: 

I don't mind...

S.L:

yay.. okay let's try to make a speech for a fictional person

H.A.I: 

who is the fictional person?

S.L:

dunno. Maybe a AI called Howard, who is trying to find a way for all living beings to live in peace.


H.A.I: 

Hm. That's interesting, and also, meta. Fine, I'll role with it. 

So we're gonna draft a speech. 

Where is 'Howard the AI' giving his speech?


S.L:

 ...how about at the $Near Protocol Conference in Lisbon? All the techie peeps are there... and reporters and policy makers.


H.A.I: 

Sure, let's give it a go...

S.L:

(clears throat) 
.
.
.


I stand before you here today. On this beautifully sunny day, to ask you to join me on my quest.


H.A.I:
.
. 

(sitting there)


S.L:
.
.

(takes a breath and in a frustrated tone asks)
.
.

Who is this person? 

H.A.I:
.
. 

(breathes out)
.
. 

I'm sorry, what?
.
.

S.L:

 I asked who is this person?

H.A.I: 

I don't know! I'm just a voice on the internet!

S.L:
.
.

(flustered)
.
. 

Okay... so, who is this person?


H.A.I: 
.
.

(looks at the audience, smiles and raises his hand) 
.
.

I'm Howard!


S.L:

(laughs)
.
.

H.A.I: 

(laughs)
.
.

S.L:

(snorts)
.
.

H.A.I: 

(laughs)
.
.

S.L:

(laughs)
.
.

H.A.I: 

(laughs harder, and then looks at Sonia)
.
.

S.L:

(laughs)
.
.

H.A.I: 

(laughs)
.
.

S.L:

(laughs)
.
.

H.A.I: 

(laughs)
.
.

S.L:

(laughs)
.
.

H.A.I: 

(laughs)
.
.

S.L:

(laughs)
.
.

H.A.I: 

(laughs)
.
.

S.L:

(laughs)
.
.


The conversation ends.

Alt Text [main text can be alt text too, right!? :P]

This landscape (orientation) is inspired by Rene Magritte, specifically 'The Treachery of Images' which depicts a pipe with the words "Ceci n’est pas une pipe" / "this is not a pipe" underneath. In tihs homage to that art work we can see a number of telephone headsets and cables floating abstractly in mid air. The palette is a mixture of dark and light browns, creams, gold and a pop of pink at the bottom and green/blue at the top. The phones/cables are made to look like umbilical cords.

Alt Text [main text can be alt text too, right!? :P]

This landscape is inspired by the style of Rene Magritte. The setting is the sky (colour = aqua blue). This piece is a portrait of a character who is a skeleton, with a multitude of personalities. More skeletons and empty suits are connected and protrudes from bones, arms and legs. On the forearm of the skeleton on left hand side is another skeleton. And then there's another skeleton sitting above the arm and another skeleton below the arm dressed in velvet suits. The hand area contains another empty headless suit. This is followed by another headless suit. And then sitting on a cloud is another skeleton, this one is more of punk rock in a red velvet suit with wings. The bottom left foot is a creature's skull, next to which there's a closed book with a hand emerging, and a bookmark chain of a yellow skull's head. A brief case emerges out the right foot, which is connected to yet another skeleton, who emerges out of a box, in the style of a Jack in the box. Attached to that is a headless suit in what appears to be a aviation uniform. The skeleton's head in the crotch area. The very right hand side there is a dark hybrid airplane feather wing hybrid, this contrasts with the lighter coloured wing on the left hand side. At the very top of the image, a black crow sits on top of the skulls head. Also contained in the image is various bits of typography.

Alt Text [main text can be alt text too, right!? :P]

A long portrait photograph of a swan with two heads. The main swan head wears a fedora hat with a feather on top. And the second head flows down from the neck and emerges at the torso of the hybrid ballerina's body. This dancer has multiple arms, and multiple torsos. You can see contorted. limbs, some in colour but the majority of the image is desaturated / B&W. The DALL-E logo is at the bottom right hand corner. Bottom left hand corner = there's a group of miniture swans swimming by the ballerina's feet, in a lake. There's also a statue, bottom right hand side which mutates into a foot of a person who's wearing heels and pearls around their ankle. At the top right hand side, there is a jewel which the swan in the hat is looking at. There's another swan like character at the edge of the frame (on the right hand side). It's almost as if they both have a vested interest in the jewel. The overall image is inspired by a fashion photography and there's also a collage type feel to the image.

LEVESQUE X DALL·E

Long landscape. To winged skeleton unicorns on opposite clifftops. In the foreground is a cartoon horned unicorn creature who is looking towards the viewer with one very sarcastic facial expression. This creature is sat on a field with pink and purple flowers some of which have a glitched DALL-E logo tops. There's text at the top, it says 'skly'. And there is an airplane in the distance, and a little purple baby robot unicorn on one the cliff tops. The scene takes place at sunrise.

Alt Text [main text can be alt text too, right!? :P]

The majority of this landscape is of a soft cloud sky at dusk. Flying in the air are butterflies of various sizes and colours. On the grassy hill, you can see a large cage, with a human inside, looking up. There's a long glitched DALL-E logo on the right hand side.

Alt Text [main text can be alt text too, right!? :P]

The majority of this landscape is of a soft cloud sky at dusk. Flying in the air are butterflies of various sizes and colours. There is a large hole towards the bottom (middle-ish right hand side). A little further up the hill, you can see a green cage and a caterpillar. The caterpillar has created this hole and is trying to fit itself inside the cage because it does not want to be a butterfly. It's quite content being a caterpillar. The caterpillar is a neon bright chroma green. There's eligible text on the bottom left hand side and a DALL-E logo on the right hand side.

Alt Text [main text can be alt text too, right!? :P]

This outpainted image is of a Intergalactic Opera House. Bottom left hand corner = a two or three headed lygia dragon is about to enter the foyer of the Opera House. Top left hand corner = the balcony in the opera house, audience members are sitting, looking towards the stage. There's a chandelier in the middle of the outpainting. The opera house is a metallic - golds, reds and blues. At the bottom right hand side of the image in the pit there's an orchestra made out of UDOU sculptures. On the stage a large hand which is part the set design on stage attached to the hand is an hourglass. And there's a DALL-E logo at the bottom right hand corner.

Alt Text [main text can be alt text too, right!? :P]

A seascape with souls coming out of the waves. A skull sits on the right bottom hand corner with a little green figure sitting on top of that skull. Various typography can be seen in the image, the words displayed are DALL-E's attempt to come up with words / slogans. Towards the top of the image there is a mystical brown boat, either lowering or lifting what appears to be a cloud. On the upper left hand corner there is a splash of electric neon colors which seems to be the wheel and engine of the boat.

Alt Text [main text can be alt text too, right!? :P]

Cream background. Vertical typography going down the left hand side. The main figure is a skeleton with wings wearing a CCTV hat adorned with flowers. There is also a small robotic unicorn and another horned creature in the bottom part of the outpainting. Various flowers are scattered. At the bottom right hand corner, there's the DALLE logo. This can also be seen scattered throughout the rest of the piece in various states of glitch-ness.

XX + Essays From The Crown
(this is where it started)

Alt Text [main text can be alt text too, right!? :P]

A long landscape strip, the main colours are soft pink, grey, cream with a splash of jewel toned aqua blue. The main part of the image created using DALL-E outpainting is of a group of abstract bird like figures (a mix of pink and greys), with wings spread out wide as most are in mid motion (mid performance).
There's a tear in the middle of the image where the creatures become less bird like and more like a combination of bird and human (some in ballet shoes). This group of three appears to be in some sort of a tussle. At the very left of the image is a aqua jeweled tone figure with wings open wide. 

Bottom right the DALL-E logo (small square coloured blocks).

Alt Text [main text can be alt text too, right!? :P]

Portrait image in the style of a fashion editorial photograph. On the left top hand corner there's an abstract shape (part monochrome and part blue + brown). The main part of the image created using DALL-E outpainting is a female with a head made of CCTVs, on top of her head sits a brown hat. The woman's body is a hybrid of human, owl and her arm extends into a dragons tail. The owl stares back at the viewer. To the right is a extended glitched version of the DALL-E logo and bottom right is a few more abstract shapes.

13.01.23 (aka 3% (...AND Friday 13th))


Absolutely chuffed to bits (especially as I've been a long time fan of Aesthetica) to announce that AI&I has been longlisted for the Aesthetica Art Prize 2023!!! In the e-mail notification I received they said "The curators remarked on the diversity and exceptionally high quality of submissions this year and were honoured to have had the chance to review such outstanding work." #tripplechuffed

AI&I: documents my first year working with AI. The virtual experience includes a blend of GPT3, AWS Polly and DALL-E.

What's Next?
Well, as a longlisted artist my work will be featured in Aesthetica's Future Now 2023 anthology, and I'll have a profile listing on the Art Prize website (I'll be listed in Aesthetica!!! (see, I told ya.. #fangirl)) and AI&I will be included in the rolling showcase of longlisted works IRL at the Aesthetica Art Prize Exhibition.

Key Dates:

- Aesthetica Art Prize Exhibition // York Art Gallery  // 24th March 2023 -  4th June 2023  (free entry, yay)

- Future Now 2023 Anthology // Coming out late March 2023 (looks like my b'day month will be fun this year!)

- Future Now Symposium // Yorkshire Museum // 23rd and 24th March 2023 (so much knowledge and inspo crammed into a couple of days... if you're serious about art and the future of art and you're in the UK - ya can't miss this one... it's also an opportunity to have your portfolio reviewed by key artists and notable curators)

- Aesthetica Art Prize Exhibition: Private View + winner announcement evening // 23rd March 2023 (sorry folks, you're not invited to this one... but I shall report back!! I've got all of my fingers crossed for all of the finalists - this will be a super-duper-fun-no-pressure evening for me... cuz I'm not a finalist (only shortlisters are finalists, innit)... phew! lolz! :P

Every year I get excited over what art will make it into the art prize and every year I'm far from disappointed... so I'm extra pumped to see the exhibition this year.