The explosion of AI into more creative fields has forced us to ask — if artificial intelligence can not just replicate mundane tasks, but creative ones too, what is left that’s uniquely human?
Field: Art
“I’m not interested in reality”: AI artist Refik Anadol on creative coding, hallucinations, and the future of art
By painting with code and bits of data, AI artist Refik Anadol reveals surprisingly deep insights into what it means to create art.
When AI prompts result in copyright violations, who has to pay?
Who is responsible for copyright violations when they're produced by generative AI? The technology is outpacing the law.
Animation may be entering a new renaissance. Here’s why.
Popular animated films have been rendered in an increasingly realistic style recently. Here's where animation is heading in the future.
Data poisoning: how artists are sabotaging AI to take revenge on image generators
Artists unhappy with their work being used by generative AI have are using "data poisoning" to mess with the algorithm.
There’s an entire solar system hiding inside Sweden
The Avicii Arena in Stockholm is the world’s largest spherical building and the center of the world’s largest scale model of our solar system.
GPT-4 scores in the top 1% of test-takers for creative thinking
New AI tools are increasingly part of creative production, and are scoring surprisingly high in creative thinking tests.
Viewing abstract art causes notable cognitive changes
Abstract art causes the viewer to place more psychological distance between themselves and the art than with more typical works.
A view from the creative frontlines
What can we learn from creatives who have already begun experimenting about with this new wave of generative AI tools about what is to come?
What AI can teach us about copyright and fair use
A copyright lawyer and fair use expert weighs in on the legal implications of these new AI technologies.
Idea amplification is the really exciting potential of generative AI
Former OpenAi researcher Kenneth Stanley explores the potential for AI to help us unlock new creativity by turning former dead ends into viable paths forward.
Why artists shouldn’t fear AI
Advancements in generative art have many human artists on edge. But should they be worried?
How AI is changing music forever
Musicians and technologists Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst discuss the AI music revolution and the critical importance of artist consent in building this new future
How to stop runaway AI
Professor Stuart J. Russell warns that AI could pose an existential threat to humanity unless we can ensure that these systems remain aligned with human values and goals.
These “AI Artists” don’t want to ape existing art — they want to create something new entirely
We sat down with two prominent AI artists to talk about their projects and their quest to create new genres.
Is the disruption caused by AI art actually new, or does it just feel new?
From paint in tubes to typewriters to photography to digital art, the history of creativity is a history of disruptive technologies.
Will GPTs swallow NFTs?
The explosion of art made with GPTs and the new market created by NFTs will usher in a Virtual Renaissance that defines 21st century art.
The tech of the year is entering the workforce
Generative AIs are being integrated into the programs millions of people use at work, but will they really make our jobs easier?
New AI can “reimagine” your pictures in infinite ways
Stability AI has launched Stable Diffusion Reimagine, an AI that uses uploaded images as inspiration for new creations.
5 AI experts predict how ChatGPT and DALL-E will affect the future of work
Will society will use this moment of AI breakthroughs to advance equity or exacerbate disparities? Five experts weigh in.
World’s highest-res pictures of snowflakes combine art and tech
Former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold custom built a camera system to take the world’s highest-resolution pictures of snowflakes.
Generative AI: The technology of the year for 2022
It's made headlines so often that there is no question that 2022 will be remembered as the year that Generative AI stunned the world.
New “risky” playground could make kids anti-fragile
A new playground in Melbourne’s Southbank is the work of artist Mike Hewson, who introduces "risk" back into play.
Shutterstock will sell AI images — and compensate artists
Shutterstock will make AI-generated images available on its website, while also compensating creators for helping train the AI.
I used generative AI to create pictures of painting robots, but I’m not the artist — humanity is
Generative AI systems are incredible and hugely important, but they are not creative. In fact, they’re not even intelligent.
This Stable Diffusion mod will turn you into a Pokémon
Stable Diffusion, an open-source text-to-image AI, has been modified to generate Pokémon-like characters from simple text prompts.
How do DALL-E, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and other forms of generative AI work?
DALL-E and other types of generative AI can produce images that look like photographs, paintings, or drawings that were created by humans.
Text-to-image AIs are changing art forever
Text-to-image AIs that draw whatever you describe in text are making it easy for anyone to create unique art online.
15th century futurism: Leonardo da Vinci’s famous helicopter design finally takes flight
Da Vinci dreamed up a helicopter 400 years before they actually existed. Now, engineers have brought his design to life, but with a twist.
“Read 2,000 books”: Werner Herzog’s advice on reading
In the past, Werner Herzog has stated that you can't be a filmmaker without a regular reading habit, from Hemingway to Norse mythology.
Turning Appalachia’s contaminated creek water into art
Acid mine drainage turns thousands of creeks orange in Appalachia. True Pigments is pulling that pollution to create paint pigments.
Ukrainian artists turn to NFTs to tell their stories
A Kyiv gallerist and Puerto Rican art gallery are auctioning off NFTs of art created in conflict to support Ukrainian artists.
NFTs are extending the life of street art
To extend the life of their street art, creators are linking them to NFTs that can then live on the blockchain in perpetuity.
AI artist Botto has made its first million
AI artist Botto, which hones its taste via a human community, has made a splash in the art market, going from NFTs to Miami.
Crypto and traditional art are merging — and the result is fantastic
The addition of a physical component could help crypto art go mainstream.
I took a creativity test, and this is what it told me
Researchers made a creativity test with objective and automated scoring that gives an accurate measure of verbal creativity.
Sculpting robots chisel art out of marble
Italy's Robotor is inspiring artists to pick up Carrara marble as a medium by delegating the laborious carving process to sculpting robots.
Bacteria are cleaning Michelangelo's Reanaissance sculptures
Faced with stubborn, literal stains of the family’s violent past, the Medici Chapel has used bacteria to clean Michelangelos.
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Ramen Profitable
How renegade museum tours became a multimillion dollar business
In partnership with Million Stories
Museum Hack is reimagining museum tours as we know them, by delivering storylines about art, culture, and history in a way that’s interactive — and highly entertaining.
World’s first VR opera to open in London
“Current, Rising,” the world’s first VR opera, promises to immerse audiences in a “hyper-reality” made possible by technology.
AI reconstructs lost art painted over by Picasso
You can now buy a reconstructed piece of lost art discovered lurking beneath a famous Picasso painting.
Tattoo shy? no problem. these tats are made to fade
Ephemeral launched the first-ever made-to-fade tattoo ink, allowing people to get tattoos without committing to them for the rest of their lives.
Stunning “agar art” grows pictures with bacteria and fungi
Agar art lets scientists tap into their creative sides by growing microbes into beautiful bioart scenes in petri dishes.
Watch Japan’s latest robot painter in action
For SXSW’s AI Painting Project, a robot arm was trained to generate paintings based on given concepts and using a limited number of brushstrokes.
Sophia the Robot joins NFT frenzy
Sophia the robot has created digital art that will be linked to an NFT and sold — making her the latest to join the art world’s current craze.
NFTs and crypto art, explained
NFTs are creating a marketplace for digital content. It may be a huge opportunity for digital creators to sell their own work.
Science and art collide over a giant field of leeks
Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde’s new GROW installation features multicolored LED lights dancing over a field of leek plants.
What does a solarpunk future look like?
The writers, artists, and activists of the solarpunk movement envision a future in which we’ve overcome the problems inspiring today’s dystopian sci-fi.
The power of sketching in visual communication
Michael DiTullo, designer for Nike, Honda, and Hasbro to name a few, shares the value of drawing as a means of communicating ideas.
Why do selfies matter? Ask Frederick Douglass
The great abolitionist, freedom fighter and orator, Frederick Douglass, used photography to smash racial stereotypes and reframe Black identity.
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Biohackers
The cyborg artist who hears color
Neil Harbisson was born colorblind. Now he has an antenna implant in his skill to hear color and create beautiful works of art.
The algorithm playwright
Annie Dorsen allows algorithms to write her plays, and it challenges our fundamental understanding of art.
Robot artist challenges our definition of art
Artists have a history of subverting expectations and mainstream culture, but the world’s first humanoid robot artist is taking it to a new level. So far, she has sold over $1 million worth of art.
The anti-facial recognition fashion statement
These designers are trying to outsmart surveillance systems with anti-facial recognition makeup, glasses, and clothing. Can they help us go incognito?
Back to the future: Classic cars go high tech
This boutique auto shop is crafting quality, custom cars that combine vintage designs with the latest technologies. And perhaps more importantly, they’re challenging the widely accepted concept that we live in a disposable world.
High-tech art exhibit looks at life through the eyes of AI
In this Chicago museum, artists explore some of the most polarizing forms of imagery at the moment: surveillance and facial recognition.
Will Hunt finds humanity underground
In Will Hunt’s book Underground, the journalist and "urban explorer" details his expeditions through caves, mines, tunnels, catacombs, and sewer systems around the world and the depths of the information he's found.
Meet the artist who paints with dna clues
When Maayan Harel paints a portrait, her subject isn't sitting in front of her. She doesn't even have a photograph...
Chico MacMurtrie's art transcends the southern border
If all goes to plan, six robotic sculptures will arc across the border dividing El Paso and Ciudad Juárez in the fall of 2020.
Merging nature and sustainable design: An interview with Daan Roosegaarde
From towers that create pockets of clean air to a luminescent bike path that glows like children's ceiling stars, Daan Roosegaarde's entire practice is centered around the beauty of living with nature and removing pollution from urban life.
Prosthetics as fashion: designers transform prosthetic leg covers into wearable art
Alleles is a premier boutique where amputees can be fitted for fashionable limb covers that make their prosthetic limbs stylish and eye-catching. These designers hope their fashions will help reduce the stigma that comes with prosthetics.
Advanced prosthetics are not only powerful, they’re beautiful
"There's a deep, deep relationship between the functionality of the device and a person's identity of what their body is."
Ever wonder what happens to leftover crayons?
This dad is melting down old crayons for kids who need them most.