A clap of thunder rang out in April 2023 at the prestigious Sony World Photography Awards competition: when going to collect his prize in London, the winner of the competition, the German artist Boris Eldagsen, refused the honor by revealing that the The work was generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
This coup aimed to alert the public about the risks of AI drift. This incredibly powerful technology is redefining the very notion of artist, work of art, and even truth.
A sign of the undeniable public interest, Boris Eldagsen’s career took off from his theatrical gesture in April 2023. The 54-year-old Berliner is invited all over the world to discuss the impact of AI on visual arts. The creator is just coming to Montreal, where he will give a conference (at C2 Montreal) and exhibit his images — now created by AI, his new hobby.
“With artificial intelligence, we are witnessing a pivotal moment in the visual arts,” says artist and teacher Gilles Tarabiscuité, who invited Boris Eldagsen to the metropolis. The Montrealer will exhibit a series of works by the German artist in the small gallery, Hangar 7826, which he founded in his alley in the Villeray district.
Gilles Tarabiscuité has the impression that the famous image won a prize in London will appear in art history books as a milestone in the use of AI in photography. He emphasizes that real emotion emerges from the work, inspired by a real family photo from the time of the Second World War. A limited edition of the image in question, titled Pseudomnesia: The Electricianwill be offered in Montreal for $30,000.
Just a year ago, the use of AI to create an artistic work made waves, but the process is no longer exceptional today. It has even become widespread. Artists freely admit that they are discovering the almost unlimited possibilities of AI for creating or modifying works.
Basic trend
Creation using AI has even become a fundamental trend in digital arts, explains Alain Thibault, curator of the seventh International Biennial in Digital Arts, presented at Arsenal contemporary art from May 31. The majority of works presented (by 35 artists from three continents, including Boris Eldagsen) come from AI.
“I find it exciting as a creator. Artificial intelligence gives us a certain independence to try lots of things, but it is true that it raises ethical issues. There is a fine line between true and false, between real and unreal,” says Alain Thibault.
The artist tells me that there is a work, but should we believe him?
The theme of this year’s Biennale, “Illusion”, corresponds to the spirit of the times: the invited artists reflect in particular on the risks of misinformation and the threats against democracy caused by AI. The American presidential election is likely to provide an overview of the dangers of images invented by technology, underlines the curator of the Biennale.
“We know politicians who say anything, who distort the truth. They can rely on false images,” notes Alain Thibault.
One of the installations presented at the Biennale will make a multimedia work appear on visitors’ phones. “The artist tells me that there is a work, but should we believe him? » he says.
Ethical dilemmas
Alain Thibault, who is also a musician, used an artificial intelligence application to produce the video for his latest electronic music composition, completed in the fall of 2023. He composed the music himself, but the video is a product of AI. For what ? Because he simply “wanted to explore this new creative tool”.
He notes that obvious mistakes AI made until recently — like one hand or finger too many — are becoming less frequent.
Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre, assistant professor at the School of Design at Laval University, emphasizes that AI currently raises a series of unprecedented ethical questions. “What is a work of art? This question becomes complex” with the creation of images using simple instructions given to an application, she points out. The copyright issue remains unresolved.
This specialist in animated cinema believes that the education system must train young people with a critical mind and a solid general culture, particularly in history and literature, so as not to be dominated by algorithms. She hypothesizes that good artists will know what instructions to give to AI to generate relevant works.
American domination
“What worries me most is the concentration of production powers for this type of technology in the hands of two or three companies in the American West,” warns Marcello Vitali-Rosati, full professor at the Canada Research Chair in digital writing at the University of Montreal.
AI algorithms require immense amounts of energy and expensive infrastructure, which only digital giants can afford. “These companies represent a point of view which becomes the only possible one. These monopolies, shaped by white Western guys, will homogenize in a rather violent way the capacities for producing texts and images,” explains the professor.
For him, the problem with AI is not the opposition between humans and machines, but rather the challenge of creating algorithms representative of human diversity. Huge economic, political and cultural interests are at stake. The capitalist vision of corporate America is winning.
Marcello Vitali-Rosati notes that, already, it is underpaid workers from poor countries who do the manual work essential to the creation of algorithms – for example by annotating the photos which are used to fuel the technologies of creation of ‘pictures.