Open online lecture: Beyond hallucinations & dreams: Experimental approaches to generative AI models / Gabriele de Seta

The term “generative artificial intelligence” describes a subset of systems based on machine learning that are used to “synthesize” various kinds of content such as text, images, videos, sounds, and 3D models. Generative AI has a growing range of applications, which include sequencing proteins, retouching images, face-swapping filters, and customer service chatbots. The most recent wave of hype around generative AI promotes its capability to magically transform text into images or images into videos. But what are the limits of generative AI? How does the seemingly endless variation of its outputs interface with different kinds of creative processes? How can we approach generative AI models in a way that is both productive and critical? In the workshop, we will explore some easily accessible generative AI models and tools and experiment with ways to probe and question them in ways that allow us to move beyond the myth of machines that dream and hallucinate, and toward a more hands-on familiarity with these emerging creative partners.

Note that the following workshop is closed for 1, 2, 3 Playtime participants, but there might be free slots. If you are interested, send an email to margot [dot] edstrom [at] iac [dot] lu [dot] se (margot[dot]edstrom[at]iac[dot]lu[dot]se)
10:45–11:00     Workshop intro – assignments.
11:00–12:00     Zoom closed. Participants work on their own or in groups.
13:00–15:45     Workshop continues.
15:45–16:45     Sharing session/ online-discussion with Gabriele.

Gabriele de Seta is, technically, a sociologist. He holds a PhD from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica in Taipei. Gabriele is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Bergen, where he is part of the ERC-funded project “Machine Vision in Everyday Life”. His research work, grounded on ethnographic engagement across multiple sites, focuses on digital media practices, sociotechnical entanglements and vernacular creativity in the Chinese-speaking world. He is also interested in experimental music, internet art, and collaborative intersections between anthropology and art practice.

Visit Gabriele de Seta’s artist page – paranom.asia

The lecture is part of “1,2,3 Playtime. A lecture and workshop series in the field of gamification”.

Find more information about the lecture series 1,2,3 Playtime here.