Are you curious about the artistic possibilities of artificial intelligence?

Do you wonder how to link your practice as an artist to AI?

And do you have the guts to engage in artistic research on unfamiliar - and frankly quite agonising - terrain?

Then join this exciting course!

Our lives are increasingly datafied. Algorithms collect your clicks to personalize your online experiences. Extensive Facebook-profiles predict what interests you will have next, while deepfakes on Twitter problematize the distinction between fake and real images and videos. When we do go out on the street, ‘smart’ cameras track our movements in order to prevent criminal behavior. All of this is the result of an emerging technology: Artificial Intelligence.

As AI influences our lives and society, it becomes increasingly relevant (and problematic) for art. More and more artists experiment with machine learning, data-science and smart algorithms. This minor deals with AI and art. What is this Artificial Intelligence everyone is talking about? How do those algorithms work under the bonnet? What challenges and opportunities does AI give artists? And how can you – as an artist, designer, or maker – engage with such techno-scientific topics?

Using methods of artistic research, artistic engagement and just getting your hands dirty while creating new stuff, you explore (together with colleagues) in this elective minor how you can engage with algorithms from an artistic perspective. The course includes workshops, guest lecturers, artist talks and a lot of digital experiments. It provides you with an inspiring interdisciplinary environment with students and teachers from different artistic and scientific disciplines. You will practice artistic research: thinking with your hands, or thinking-through-making.

You will not embark on this quest alone. In the coming weeks we will discuss about, read into, and investigate the topic of AI. Each week, we will (1) explore lectures that connect AI with Art in fascinating ways, and (2) roll up our sleeves to experiment and create with these technologies. This hands-on research and exploration (Thinking with your Hands) will culminate in several works, one of which you’ll showcase during the final presentation.

This course is guided by Casper Wortmann, who has the rather unique quality of combining a background as a performance artist with a master in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Amsterdam. He works with clients as diverse as Dries Verhoeven and Nike. His side kick is Peter Missotten, an Intermedial artist and head of the research group technologydrivenart.com.

• introduction to the world of Artificial Intelligence
• introduction to the mathematical background of Artificial Intelligence
• introduction to the social and ethical issues surrounding the use of Artificial Intelligence
• you learn to develop new unexpected or quirky applications of Artificial Intelligence through practical artistic research in the subject matter
• you learn to develop critical and/or playful concepts around Artificial Intelligence
• you learn to elaborate your own project into a working (art) object or concept
• you learn to place your own work within the contemporary arts landscape
• you will independently visit relevant exhibitions and/or festivals and performances
• you will develop as an enterprising artist or designer, up to and including presentation in a public exhibition

• The minor is intended for students of Arts and Design and Technology
• You are interested in the use of Artificial Intelligence in the elaboration of creations within art or design
• You are interested in the impact of Artificial Intelligence on society
• You write a short letter introducing yourself, illustrating your own work with some examples and explaining why you want to follow this minor

A package of basic technological materials is made available. Additional materials are the student's responsibility.

Contact moments: three days a week (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday).

We expect the student to be available full-time.

Description of meetings: Practical education in art and design; Lectures with associated teaching assignments; Project education.

Presentation of your work, 15 EC

Cooperating research centres: Technology Driven Art and What Art Knows 

https://technologydrivenart.org