ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCEAND CREATIVE THINKING

Michael Paul – CS210 – 4.18.07

Overview

explanation of generative or algorithmic art

some examples of such software music writing drawing

advantages and disadvantages of this type of software and its ethical implications

A Familiar Example

Nintendo Wii – Mii Creator

A Familiar Example

So what’s the problem?

Imagine the same application with something more significant

Definition

Generative artArt that has been generated, composed, or constructed in an algorithmic manner through the use of systems defined by computer software algorithms, or similar mathematical or mechanical or randomized autonomous processes- From Wikipedia

Experiments in Musical Intelligence algorithmic music composition tool

written by David Cope analyzes works by a certain composer

and creates new compositions in the style of the sample works

Other Composition Tools

Metamath Music –generates music from mathematical proofs

CodeSounding – generates music from java source code

Randomusic – automatically generates music in a random fashion while following various rules that add harmony, structure, etc.

Lexikon-Sonate – another algorithmic music generator

Cybernetic Poet

The Saxophone Player

The saxophone playerlives alone,blowslives alone,blowsa swinging doorsplendid silenceprophetic posessplendid silenceprophetic posesof a prayer and the walls.

A poem written by Ray Kurzweil's Cybernetic Poetafter reading poems by Ray Kurzweil and Pat Sherman

Cybernetic Poet

written by Raymond Kurzweil reads a selection of poems and creates a

“language model” uses model to write new poetry in the

style of the originals uses the following aspects of original

poems: words, word structures, rhythm patterns, and overall poem structure

AARON

Can produce nearly infinitely many images in its own style, but it cannot learn new styles

Software written by Harold Cohen to create virtual paintings

AARON

written by Harold Cohen has been in continual development since

1973 initially created abstract drawings in black

and white more representational imagery was added

in the 1980s, including plants, rocks, and people

color was added in the 1990s available as a screensaver for Windows

AARON

Why This Is Good

advances the field of A.I. helps us model the thought processes

behind human creativity generates artwork that might not

otherwise be created can be used to enhance human-created art

(i.e. an artist can model a machine to generate something based on specific needs)

Things To Think About

“The music our algorithms compose are just as much ours as the music

created by the greatest of our personal human inspirations.”

- David Cope

“If what AARON is making is not art, what is it exactly, and in what ways,

other than its origin, does it differ from the ‘real thing?’ If it is not thinking,

what exactly is it doing?”- Harold Cohen

Some Problems

could diminish the need for human talent lacks the value of man-made art

might be unfairly used as a crutch plagiarism

the Cybernetic Poet tries to avoid using more than 3 words in a row from a source work, but it can still happen

someone could claim a computer-generated work to be their own

limitation: cannot modify their own behavior

Ethical Questions

To what extent is it fair to use another person’s work as the basis of a new creation?

Who should claim authorship of software-created art? The user? The creator of the software? Where do you draw the line?

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generative_art

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer- generated_music

http://www.kurzweilcyberart.com/poetry/ http://www.kurzweilcyberart.com/aaron/ http://arts.ucsc.edu/faculty/cope/

experiments.htm