WHAT IS AI (ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE)?
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How to create and curate AI art?

The popularity of AI art has skyrocketed in the last few years. From its beginnings with DeepDream and style transfer to GAN and DALL-E, AI art has long since moved beyond technological circles into the public consciousness, intersecting with the world of media art, contemporary art and NFT. The contemporary art world's fascination with the social impact of technologies such as facial recognition, recommender systems and deep fakes has prompted artists to critically explore AI as an object, while NFT and text-to-image models have shifted the focus back to aesthetics. This talk will provide an overview of how artists and technologists are using and thinking about machine learning, its creative potential and social impact.

Panel discussion:
A critical look at current developments in AI in the arts and creative professions

Generative AI has advanced significantly in recent years and is becoming a mainstay of artistic practice. Through a discussion of AI and its aesthetic capabilities, we seek to answer the following questions: what new aspects does the technical framework of machine learning bring to artistic creation? And what can artworks using AI point to in the field of AI research and development?

Keynote:
Photography vs Promptography: The Story of Winning and Rejecting the Sony World Photography Award

The future of photography is no longer defined by the medium itself, but also by artificial intelligence. AI image generators have adopted photographic visual language and can synthetically generate it in the form of so-called "promptography". What does this mean for the relationship between photography and promptography? What skills do I need as a photographer and what skills do I need as a promptographer? In what ways do the two activities complement each other and in what ways do they compete? Boris Eldagsen analyses the relationship that most people describe with the words "it's complicated" and shows where it may evolve in the future.

Keynote:
Confused by co-creation: AI's Journey from Deepfakes to Creative Partnerships
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The field of AI-generated synthetic media has changed dramatically since the advent of the first deepfake. Initial shock and awe have given way to the spectacle of generative applications of AI, and attention has shifted from lamentation to excitement about the productivity and efficiency gains of AI. As we embrace AI-generated synthetic media, we are not only witnessing the emergence of new aesthetics and creative workflows, but also redefining our understanding of truth.

The newfound ease of controlling generative neural networks through natural language has changed societal perceptions of these tools, making them seem more accessible and controllable. This change has led many to anthropomorphize artificial intelligence, seeing chatbots as their friends and extrapolating these interactions to make assumptions about more complex AI applications. However, this lack of AI literacy can lead to dangerous misunderstandings and shape the public consensus on how to coexist with AI in our society.

Keynote:
AI as a tool for exploring artistic expression.
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MAMA AI focuses on practical applications of artificial intelligence beyond the usual world of business. How to capture and model an artist? How can an artificial voice help an artistic work? Is it appropriate to replace a recording of a conversation with a dialogue of synthetic voices? Can visually interesting behavior be found in the analysis of AI models? Let's take a look...

Panel discussion:
AI as the latest in a series of technological challenges facing the graphic design industry in its post-1980s digital era. As AI continues to evolve and core visual tools such as Photoshop integrate AI, this opens up new possibilities for designers, simplifying workflows (especially for complex projects) and enhancing creativity. Jan Brož will share his experience of using AI to create the visual identity for this year's Signal Festival and Lenka Hamošová will help us untangle the complex relationship between computer science and graphic design.

Panel Discussion:
Current Developments in AI and Urban Planning and Architecture

This panel will explore how AI is changing the creative landscape in architecture and urban planning, and leading experts will discuss innovative applications, considerations and future potential of AI-based design solutions. Gain insight into the evolving relationship between technology and the built environment and explore the challenges and opportunities presented by new technologies.