Oh AI, What On Earth Should We Do With You? Saudi Arabia Lead The Way With A Modern Approach

UNESCO World Heritage Site at Diriyah Saudi Arabia Image: CNN

Artificial intelligence is rightfully turning many heads all over the world. With the benefits of super-intelligence akin to Commander Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation and the pitfalls akin to Terminator’s Skynet, the human desire to navigate in the right direction has possibly never been stronger. Do we hand over our weapons codes to a thinking machine, incapable of rage and malevolence, or do we give everyone an extension to their mind that’s a finger push away? These are big questions.
 
When it comes to the world of art and design, AI can take concepts from thousands of examples and use them to build something seemingly brand new. For a human, a creative process is often blindfolded, with our subconscious images and ideas silently entering our memories as we go about our busy lives. When the computer is visibly doing what we subconsciously do naturally, on purpose and without inhibition, the moral implications suddenly become an issue. Plagiarism is a real crime and robs professional creatives of rightful returns for their work.
 
Rather than just sitting there, wide-eyed, and nervous, it’s important to get stuck in and steer the ship. If we let the technology sail itself, then we will always have what-if questions we could have answered. The Saudi Ministry of Culture have been working hard to make the nation as attractive as possible to the rest of the world. Perhaps by inviting civilisation in, the leadership hopes a bit of modernity will rub off on the millions of citizens. A deeply conservative nation, the desire for change is perhaps best brought in from the outside. One of the projects being put together is the cultural centre at Diriyah.
 
Alongside a brand-new opera house, the UNESCO World Heritage Site will be home to Diriyah Art Futures Institute. Applications are open for generative AI artists from anywhere in the world, so this truly is a global force to harness and direct the use of artificial intelligence. The Saudi Ministry Of Culture wants to include as many future forms of AI enhanced art generation as possible. This means they are inviting AI art in many forms including cinema, interactive installations, sound sculpture, animation, and 3D printing. If AI art can help with it, they want to know about it and are prepared to help the future along with encouragement and guidance – provided by the artists themselves.
 
With top of the range equipment, a year-long work programme, and a community of like-minded individuals who want to support and motivate each other to produce their best results, the opportunities and possibilities seems endless. This is undoubtedly the first of many such AI forums, and I expect it won’t be just the Saudis who want to get their hands dirty and plant the seeds of tomorrow. Something I did last year was release a poetry book with AI generated art that used the verses as prompts. The images were not always great, so I ended up making dozens of images and choosing the one that stuck to my mind in an intuitive knowing. When it just feels right. This means that although the AI system was utilised, it was a minimal input and only filled in the gaps of my personal scope. That’s what I think it will be best used for, to show us what we don’t necessarily see on our own.  

Leonardo AI: Ultimate Guide For AI Art in Leonardo AI