Art, Artifice & Intelligence: A UK-Japan partnership exploring art and AI

人工智能技术日益成为我们日常生活的一部分。神经网络和深度学习在金融市场和天气预报等广泛领域都有应用。我们被告知，许多传统的工作可能有被自动化取代的危险。人工智能可以模仿人类的决策，软件程序现在可以击败国际象棋大师。英国和日本的人工智能研究处于该领域的国际前沿。DeepMind等伦敦公司开发的程序通过玩古老的日本围棋，将国际象棋的例子提升到了一个新的复杂程度。在日本，具有人形外形的先进机器人已被部署在医疗保健机构，比如照顾老年人。虽然人工智能和自动化可能会让人类棋手变得更好，也可能会取代人类的工作，但它们可以被视为与人类活动对话的伙伴。这在艺术世界中是一种引人注目的方式。虽然人们已经创建了计算机程序来生成视觉图像和通过算法作曲，但只有与人类艺术家合作，新的艺术形式才能出现。如果人工智能算法成为艺术家创作调色板的一部分，会出现什么样的新作品？为了让艺术家能够利用这些先进的技术，他们需要如何配置？人类艺术家是伙伴、主人，还是仅仅是操作者？这些新技术如何改变我们的审美意识，并挑战艺术作品或音乐作品的构成？艺术、人工和智能项目汇集了来自英国和日本的领先研究实验室，以促进新的合作伙伴关系，探索人工智能在艺术和音乐中的创造潜力。来自伦敦大学Goldsmiths的具体视听互动（Embodied Audiovisual Interaction， EAVI）单元将与东京大学SACRAL人工生命实验室和九州大学设计学院合作领导该项目。该项目将促进英国和日本之间的学者、年轻研究人员和学生交流，分享在创意环境中利用人工智能技术的知识和最佳实践。该项目活动将在一系列研讨会中进行——两个在日本，一个在伦敦——并由一位年轻的英国研究人员在日本进行为期3个月的驻留，以开发一个新项目。该项目的成果将在伦敦和日本的公共展览/表演活动中呈现给普通观众。我们将与伦敦巴比肯艺术中心（Barbican）和山口艺术与媒体中心（YCAM）等文化机构合作。该项目将触发英国和日本未来在艺术和人工智能方面的大规模合作，并将丰富的历史、技术和批判性的观点带到公众面前，这些都支撑着我们今天对人工智能的迷恋。

Technologies of artificial intelligence are an increasing part of our everyday lives. Neural networks and deep learning find application in vast areas such as the financial markets and weather prediction. We are told that many traditional kinds of jobs may be in danger of being replaced by automation. Artificial intelligence can emulate human decision making, and software programmes can now beat chess masters. AI research in the UK and Japan are at the forefront of international advancement in the field. Programmes by London companies like DeepMind take the chess example to the next level of complexity by playing the ancient Japanese game of Go. In Japan, advanced robots that take on humanoid form have been deployed in healthcare settings such as minding older people.While AI and automation might better human chess players or risk to replace jobs, they can be seen as a partner in dialogue with human activity. This is seen in a compelling way in the world of art. While computer programmes have been created to generate visual images and algorithmically compose music, it is in partnership with a human artist that new forms of art can emerge. If an AI algorithm becomes part of the creative palette of an artist, what kinds of new work emerge? For an artist to be able to harness these advanced technologies, how do they need to be configured? Is the human artist a partner, master, or mere operator? How do these new techniques change our aesthetic sense and challenge what might constitute a work of art or piece of music? The Art, Artifice & Intelligence project brings together leading research labs from the UK and Japan to foster new partnerships to explore the creative potential of artificial intelligence in art and music. The Embodied Audiovisual Interaction (EAVI) unit from Goldsmiths, University of London, will lead the project in partnership with the SACRAL artificial life laboratory of the University of Tokyo and the Faculty of Design at Kyushu University. The project will facilitate exchange of academics, young researchers, and students between the UK and Japan to share knowledge and best practices in harnessing AI technologies in creative settings. The project activities will take place in a series of workshops - two in Japan and one in London - and in a 3-month residency for a young UK researcher to develop a new project in Japan. The results of the project will be presented to general audiences in public exhibition/performance events in London, and in Japan. We will work with cultural institutions such as the Barbican in London and the Yamaguchi Center for Art & Media (YCAM). The project will be a trigger for future large scale collaborations in art and AI between the UK and Japan, and bring to the public eye the rich histories, technologies, and critical perspectives that underpin our present-day fascination with artificial intelligence.