The Augmented Dataset: Artistic Appropriations of GANs and their Bearings on Ethical Considerations of Artificial Intelligence

The Augmented Dataset: Artistic Appropriations of GANs and their Bearings on Ethical Considerations of Artificial Intelligence,
Emily L. Spratt, Data Science Institute at Columbia University

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Abstract
Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) have received much recent attention as they have been employed to falsify information through various media channels and to visually mislead viewers in their interpretation of still images and video. Decried under the rubric of fake news, GANs are often held up as malefactors in the crusade against unethical AI, yet their applications are wide ranging and their potential has yet to be fully realized. This presentation investigates the use of GANs by artists as an alternative to this narrative and considers the role of dataset formation in the Artificial Intelligence artistic process. Since such a significant number of images is required for machine learning systems to function well, the need to augment a dataset is often encountered and how this is overcome plays a considerable role in the final visual form of the GANs-produced image.

Indeed, artistic approaches to the hurdle to create new digital images through a repository of so many existing ones offer insights on what constitutes ethical Artificial Intelligence practices. The examples considered include those by notable Artificial Intelligence artists along with a recent project on gastronomic algorithms undertaken by the author with the Chef Alain Passard. Together, these artworks and projects lead one to the question: How can an image that is created through its computational yet obscured connection to a plethora of images be measured at all?

Biography
Dr. Emily L. Spratt is a Research Fellow at Columbia University in the Data Science Institute in collaboration with the Historic Preservation Program and the Department of Computer Science. Spratt is investigating the development of Artificial Intelligence-enhanced technologies for the analysis, generation, and curation of art and architecture, the ethics surrounding this subject, and its philosophical implications and bearings. Spratt received her Ph.D. from Princeton University in the Department of Art and Archaeology. She also holds an M.A. in Renaissance art history from Princeton, an M.A. in Byzantine art history from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a B.A. in art history, religious studies, and psychology from Cornell University. Previously, Spratt taught in the Department of Art History and the Cultural Heritage and Preservation Studies program at Rutgers University, where she also was a member of the Art and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in the Department of Computer Science. Currently, she is a member of the Preservation Technology Laboratory and the Computer Vision Laboratory at Columbia.

Spratt has been the recipient of fellowships and awards including those from the Onassis Foundation, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the Cini Foundation in Venice, the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institution, the American Research Center in Sofia, Bulgaria, the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, the Frick Collection and Art Reference Library, and from the universities from where she holds degrees. She is on the digital and multimedia advisory board of the Renaissance Society of America, is a steering-committee member for The Frick Collection and Art Reference Library Scholars’ Advisory Group, and is on the advisory board of the Artificial Intelligence Finance Institute. She is also the ethics advisor of Iconem, an advisor for the US Department of Defense hosted Defense Innovation Accelerator, and is the former strategic advisor of the art market and blockchain company, Artory