Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagBeauty

people-in-the-art-gallery-center-stockpack-adobe-stock
people in the art gallery center
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
December 5, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture
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Why AI Can’t Create Genuine Beauty

AI, though a helpful tool in certain contexts, cannot replace the intentionality and creativity of the human person.
Peter Biles
December 5, 2023
3
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture

Discussions about the encroachment of AI in the arts and humanities have soared in the last year, thanks primarily to the advent of technologies like ChatGPT and text-to-image tools like Midjourney and DALL-E. The conversation is surely merited. Everything from academic integrity in universities and copyright for artists is at stake here as “generative AI” only improves. While fighting for the human voice in a context where the instant and automated is preferred, maybe it’s necessary to also ask what developments in our cultural history made these technologies so welcome. Why is AI so quickly finding a cozy spot in our society? Why did our technological landscape seem to have already set the mold for AI to fill? A satisfying Read More ›

hiker-walking-in-the-australian-bushland-stockpack-adobe-stock
Hiker walking in the Australian bushland
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
November 23, 2023
Categorized
Natural Intelligence
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Beauty is Non-Computable

Taking some time to reflect on the beautiful things in the world can lead to genuine thanksgiving.
Peter Biles
November 23, 2023
3
Natural Intelligence

This Thanksgiving, what are you thankful for? Family, friends, a good job? Perhaps having a stable home, a good car, or a rich church community? Those are all wonderful things to reflect on and be thankful for during this season, and throughout the year, but what about the beauty of the natural world? Do we take enough time to pause and marvel at the wonder and intricacy of nature? In addition, who might we have to thank for such beauty? Philip Ryken, president of Wheaton College, wrote a book this year called Beauty is Your Destiny in which he calls readers to attend to creation with eyes of wonder. He also notes that many scientists, far from reducing the natural Read More ›

painting of human eye
“Fluorite” - oil painting. Conceptual abstract picture of the eye. Oil painting in colorful colors. Conceptual abstract closeup of an oil painting and palette knife on canvas.
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
October 19, 2022
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture
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Human Artists and their AI Copycats

What will happen to actual artists if AI can mimic their styles?
Peter Biles
October 19, 2022
4
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture

Imagine you’re walking through a world-class art museum, and you come across Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers.” (Let’s assume someone hasn’t already thrown tomato soup on it.) The painting isn’t a replication. It’s not a copy of a copy of a copy. It’s the original canvas and paint, the direct object created by the artist himself, shaped by age, visited by thousands of admirers—it’s “vintage.” You stand there admiring the work of a past genius, and get a sense of its beauty and meaning in a whole new way. There’s something unique in witnessing “the real thing.” Why do people travel worldwide to look at Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” when they can see a digital recreation through a Google search? Or why Read More ›

Old image of Mordor
Barad-dur, Mordor
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
October 1, 2022
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Business and Finance
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Tolkien’s for Sale

Commercializing the beloved epic fantasy comes at a cost
Peter Biles
October 1, 2022
4
Arts & Culture, Business and Finance

What happens when a beloved fantasy world, once respected and celebrated because it soared above the surrounding fray of decadent literature and art, becomes mainstream? What if the very work that was intended to transcend consumerism becomes the object of mass consumption? Harley J. Sims, writing for MercatorNet, believes Amazon has diluted the characteristic beauty and depth of The Lord of the Rings for the sake of mass consumption and appeal. I’ve shared my own thoughts on the new Rings of Power show in two separate pieces (here and here) for Mind Matters already, but just to recap: the show is interesting and entertaining enough to keep watching, but it’s missing something—a moral and imaginative ingredient Tolkien articulated beautifully in Read More ›

futuristid dystopian city
Dystopian futuristic cyberpunk city at night in a neon haze. Blue and purple glowing neon lights. Urban wallpaper. 3D illustration.
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
September 22, 2022
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture
Tagged
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AI Art Tool Can Generate Both Beauty and Horror

Making AI image generators mainstream might offer people an interesting new frontier to explore. But the tech has a serious dark side
Peter Biles
September 22, 2022
4
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture

The capacities of AI art generators have grown much in the past couple of years. Through complex algorithms, AI scans the internet and manages to make artistic composites, some sublime, others grotesque. Today, AI art generators have incredible potential, but their capacities can also be easily abused. According to a Wired article from September 21, Science fiction novelist Elle Simpson-Edin wanted to generate artwork for her newest book. So, she tried AI tools. Her novel unabashedly depicts gore and sex, but most of the AI tools she discovered included “guardrails” that sanctioned explicit content. That is until she found Unstable Diffusion, “a Discord community for people using unrestricted versions of a recently released, open source AI image tool called Stable Diffusion.” Read More ›