Dive into the dynamic discussion on AI's role in culture and creativity. Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst illuminate AI governance and ownership concerns regarding art. They explore how media serves as training data and the blurred lines between art and music today. Their unique exhibition showcases the process behind creating an AI choral voice. Parenthood also shapes their artistic journey, blending family life with creativity. Finally, they stress the importance of AI literacy, urging engagement and informed participation in a tech-driven world.
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insights INSIGHT
All Media Is Training Data
All media now has a dual function: its inherent purpose and as training data for AI.
This doesn't diminish media's value but adds a layer of consideration regarding its use in shaping AI.
insights INSIGHT
Transition to Art
Holly Herndon and Matt Dryhurst transitioned to the art world due to practical reasons like COVID and having a baby.
Their artistic endeavors always incorporated technology; the shift in format merely highlighted this aspect.
question_answer ANECDOTE
The Call Exhibit
'The Call', at Serpentine Gallery, is an immersive exhibit showcasing the artistic process of creating an AI choral voice.
It features interactive singing, a generative choral model, and a GPU fan organ playing bespoke music.
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"We're pro-AI and we're pro-consent. Those things don't have to be mutually exclusive." The activists and artists talk about the hot button issues facing AI's governance.
The world is deep in the throes of a heightening debate over AI. Just this week, the Vatican published an essay addressing the potential, and risks, of AI in a new high-tech world as well as its intersection with religion and humanity. In politics, figures like Elon Musk are advising citizens that the US government will become increasingly "AI-first," using data about its individuals to make federal decisions. And in the world of culture and the humanities, the alarm has been sounded on AI's ability to both aid in creativity and homogenise the art and music being produced and consumed, raising concerns that much of what's being released is sounding increasingly the same.
There are probably no better experts on this far-ranging topic than Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst, two Berlin-based academics and artists who have entrenched themselves in the world of AI ethics, advocacy and art for the past two decades. Now married, they come from DIY punk backgrounds, both having lived in the Bay Area pre-tech bubble while Herndon completed a Ph.D in Computer Music at Stanford. Their work is primarily concerned with how AI is governed as it becomes more ubiquitous in our everyday lives, and what its implications are for ownership of AI-generated artworks.
In this urgent and timely RA Exchange, the duo talk about their shift closer to the art world following their 2024 exhibition at The Whitney Biennial and their most recent show at Serpentine Gallery in London, The Call, which will close at the end of this month. It's one of many forward-thinking projects they've worked on to move away from the fear narrative dominating dialogue around how AI is influencing art and music, instead showcasing how machine learning can be used to push art forward. They also address their view of socialist democratic values with the rise of the far right, raising a young child and doing work that sits squarely between activism and art. Listen to the episode in full. – Chloe Lula
RA Exchange