When AI marries art

Khaleej Times

30-01-2025

Meet 'Adnose', a unique, experimental contraption shaped in the form of a giant human nose. It beckons you to place your hand beneath its nostrils. After a brief moment, it spews out a printout, much like a supermarket receipt, revealing the scents and smells detected by the device. You might be surprised to learn that 'Adnose' isn't a scientific instrument, but rather a 3D printed art installation. It is a work by the Dubai-based artist Adnan Aga and it's a part of an ongoing exhibition titled Ai or Nay? Artificial vs. Intelligent that is being held at the Media Majlis Museum at Northwestern University in Qatar. Aga was born with a rare condition called congenital anosmia, which means he cannot smell. 'That's why I created a funny nose using AI, so that it can pick up on some of the smell and scents that I have perhaps missed out on,' smiles Aga, whose work in a way captures the essence of Ai or Nay? Artificial vs. Intelligent. More than 20 artworks are currently on display in this show in Doha, compelling the human species to provoke, reflect and question the pros and cons of our rapidly evolving relationship with machine learning.
Patterned Deserts, an interactive installation by artist Farjana Salahuddin, blurs the boundary between nature and technology. Salahuddin is a Bangladeshi artist based in Qatar, whose work features a mound of sand on which she has projected futuristic-looking architectural patterns. Visitors can move their fingers through the sand and as they do, the lines change and create their own geometric designs. The work emphasises 'how much technology is taking control of our lives and moving us from the natural world to more artificial things,' explains Salahuddin.
What picture does your mind conjure when you think of an oil portrait or a sketch? Patrick Tresset's Time to Read (2024) subverts this idea by placing AI at the centre of creation and offering us ample food for thought on the nature of creativity in the era of technology. In many ways, the artwork both celebrates and critiques computer systems and robotics. It beckons visitors to sit for a portrait while reading a favourite book and get drawn by a robot that Tresset has trained to capture human likeness in his own inimitable style. 'Even though it's made by a robot, I see them as my own drawings,' chuckles the Brussels-based French artist. Initially starting out as a figurative artist, Tresset lost interest in fine art somewhere down the line but quickly found the breakthrough he was looking for in computer technology, luckily. Tresset, who has a Master's and an MPhil degree in Arts and Technology from London's Goldsmiths College, started using robots in 2010. His first sketching contraption took three years to build. 'Now, I enjoy doing this as you can use AI to influence people's thinking and compel them to reexamine preconceived notions about technology,' he adds.
In recent years, immersive, technology-based exhibitions like Ai or Nay? Artificial vs. Intelligent have gained traction among both organisers/curators and the art-loving public. At the show, different disciplines that once seemed so distant and unrelated coalesce, from art and craft to technology and science and as they come together, they raise more questions than they answer. After all, a fast-growing technology like AI is still in its infancy and though its impact has been transformative so far, its full potential will only be realised in the future.
Who is in charge?
'Are we shaping the future of AI or is AI shaping our future?' is one of the questions at the heart of the show. Curated by Jack Thomas Taylor, the exhibition explores the impact of technology on our lives through four distinct lenses — hindsight, insight, foresight and oversight. 'AI is almost impossible to exhibit because you can't actually see it. It's not tangible. So, one approach for this exhibition was not to just show AI but to let people experience it through different types of hardware or objects and artistic expressions that use AI,' says Taylor, adding, 'For us, the first step for hosting an exhibition like this is to familiarise people with the different facets of AI and tell them how technology is already a huge part of our lives. We implicitly trust technology. When we are flying in an airplane it's technology and we trust it. We use iPhones which are embedded with computer science. We know Google Maps will safely guide us to our destination. Writers use Grammarly to spell check, so the algorithm already knows your patterns. AI is everywhere and as there's more awareness more people will see it. I think the best kind of learning is when you don't know you are learning and this is what A i or Nay? Artificial vs. Intelligent does — it gives you a fun time at the museum while there's invisible learning.'
Taylor is obviously a tech evangelist, as is Alfredo Cramerotti, director of the Media Majlis Museum and one of the figures instrumental in turning the vision of Ai or Nay? Artificial vs. Intelligent into reality. 'AI is such a relevant and current topic and for us, it's even more important because the Media Majlis Museum sits in Northwestern Qatar, which is a hub of journalism, media and communication. So, it's the ideal location to reflect on these themes of privacy, identity, and representation, and how AI is transforming them, particularly in the media landscape. And if you carefully think about it — the impact of AI and machine learning is being felt in our lifetimes. It's not something in the future; it's already here and it's a subject we are all grappling with in our own ways to better understand. It is offering us creative solutions to problems and making the world a better place.'
Technology has proved itself to be a double-edged sword, too, and both Taylor and Cramerotti are optimistic that it can be a force for good in the long run. 'There's a lot of benefits but there are also drawbacks [when using AI], for example, when it comes to surveillance and privacy. So, if the data gets into the wrong hands, obviously it's scary. Deep-fakes are already posing a threat to individual privacy. These problems will have to be solved but it can only happen when there's awareness about AI, and this exhibition helps you see AI in a new light. It shows that we will have to harness AI in creative ways. We'll have to engage with it on a social and cultural level,' concludes Taylor, who's a former journalist and currently, a researcher exploring soft power and the cultural and creative industries in Doha.
Ai or Nay? Artificial vs. Intelligent is on view at the Media Majlis Museum at Northwestern University in Doha until May 15.