Augmented Art – 2021, 4x various lengths

Augmented Art 1 (think!) – 36” (looping)
Augmented Art 2 (rest!) – 2’15”
Augmented Art 3 (settle!) – 2’42” (looping)
Augmented Art 4 (relax!) – 1’1”

Blurring the lines between the artist’s and AI’s intentions, Augmented Art, uses a disinterested AI as a collaborator in the process of creating intensely personal videos exploring identity and neurodiversity. GPT-3, an AI released in beta in mid-2020, has capabilities 10x greater than previous deep learning language models. After priming with personal information, the artist used GPT-3 to augment the creative process, co-authoring scripts that are then filmed and edited by the artist.

Commissioned by Chronic Insanity for Puncture the Screen digital art festival, with funding from the Arts Council England and National Lottery.

Motivation
I was interested in different types of ‘brains’: How do neurodivergent people process differently from neurotypical people, and how do neurodivergent people process differently from each other? How does a language-predictive AI model process differently from humans? How do all of these function together creatively, and can they ‘understand’ each other?

GPT-3 is often marketed as a “writing partner” to bounce ideas off. Could you use an AI as a collaborator when you don’t have another human who gets ‘it’? This type of collaboration starts to look attractive to those with severe social anxiety or who are alienated from communities of people, whether in our dystopic megacities or depopulated rural areas.

Collaborators
Film / Music / Coding – Tom Shennan
Writing – GPT-3 via OpenAI