Unhuman: Art in the Age of AI

"The biggest artistic achievement of the year has already taken place." Rene Chun, Artsy (Sep 21, 2017)

Ich bin ein Berliner, © AICAN Algorithm, The Art and AI Laboratory, Rutgers University

Unhuman: Art in the Age of AI is the first exhibition of art produced by the AICAN algorithm. Featuring the materialization of 12 machine-generated images printed on metal sheets, this exhibition showcases the creative potential of artificial intelligence to produce art.

Inspired by theories from psychology and employing deep learning techniques, Ahmed Elgammal, professor of computer science and director of the Art and AI Laboratory at Rutgers, designed AICAN not to emulate existing works of art, yet to produce images that are still categorized as art by the program. Curated by Emily L. Spratt, Ph.D. candidate in art history at Princeton, this exhibition is the result of a selection of images picked out of a digital constellation of visual content fabricated by AICAN.

Intentionally interrogating the definition of artistic authorship, the concept of creativity, and the meaning of computer-generated art, at the core of this exhibition is an exploration of the role of boundaries in safe-keeping those seemingly inimitable qualities that we consider the hallmarks of the human experience. To understand what is human, we ask what is unhuman?