The AI+DF Team’s curricular investigation centers on building a comprehensive AI curriculum that spans technical, humanistic, and ethical dimensions. Four key quadrants frame AI's role in education: Production, focusing on how AI is created and the ethical concerns around its data and biases; Consumption, examining how society engages with AI content and its broader social impacts; AI Content, critically evaluating AI-generated outputs; and Technology, assessing the infrastructure and environmental costs of AI systems.
The team proposed course modules such as Introductory AI, addressing fundamental AI concepts, biases, and environmental concerns, and AI in the Arts, exploring AI’s creative potential and ethical challenges. There was a strong emphasis on preparing students for a future with AI by teaching both AI literacy and ethical awareness. The conversation also highlighted the importance of understanding the environmental and social inequalities created by AI infrastructure, including its energy consumption and the global impacts of AI development.
The team also explored a Certificate or Minor in AI Literacy, combining technical skills with humanistic inquiry, and discussed ways to engage the public through workshops and forums, aiming to broaden AI literacy beyond academia. The focus was on fostering critical thinking and interdisciplinary approaches. The team is currently building two NEH proposals to develop and implement these plans.
From September 22 to 24, 2024, a series of collaborative meetings took place at the AI+DF Teams Eastman Residency. The team members shared their current research interests, paving ways for a wide ranging conversation.
Rachel Plotnick presents her research on wearables, exploring the historical significance of bracelets as tools for personal expression, identification, social control, and ultimately, an assertion of power. Her discussion covers the technology behind crafting bracelets and smart devices, the promotional materials that contextualize their history, and case studies illustrating how the use of these devices has led to unintended consequences.
David Crandall discussed five recent studies in computer vision science related to the concept of atrophy, stemming from AI's multi-generational process that relies on information from the same data pool. One example highlighted a series of AI re-renderings of an image that gradually transitioned into abstraction. This shift draws an intriguing parallel to modern painting, illustrating how art has evolved into abstraction following the invention of photography.
Caleb Weintraub integrates AI into his artistic process. His latest work includes speculative fashion projects that merge art, technology, and fashion. Weintraub also creates virtual landscapes in VR and AR, exploring our perception of reality as technology integrates into daily life. His practice navigates the intersection of digital and physical realities.
Jordan Munson presents on artistic creation, focusing on the integration of AI tools in music, text, and visual art. Munson's work emphasizes the blending of human-made elements with machine-generated effects to create unique and textured artistic content. A standout example from the presentation involved using AI to generate melancholic song lyrics that exhibit emotional depth.
Ed Comentale delved into the intricate connections between technology, literature, and the occult. He highlighted the contributions of early 20th-century mathematicians and physicists, the influence of psychoanalysis on the digital world, and the transformative impact of the digital revolution on language and writing. Ed also explored the concept of automatic writing and its implications for creativity and the subconscious, as well as the spiritual dimensions of AI.
Stephanie DeBoer shared her research on screen culture citing examples of cities like Shenzhen and Hong Kong, due to their significant LED industry and screen-based urban development. The conversation highlighted how screens are used to create lively urban spaces, with varying zoning laws across regions, and its use for surveillance and control, raising questions about privacy and the balance between safety and surveillance.
Winning the highest prizes at the WSXA Film Festival in Barcelona and the Metadisruption - AI International Art & Design Festival, Professor Caleb Weintraub’s latest video exemplifies a meticulous creative process. The project began with a series of brainstorming sessions focused on the intersection of artificial intelligence and human emotions. Weintraub meticulously crafted a narrative structure, blending visual storytelling with thought-provoking themes.
He then used advanced software tools to generate dynamic visuals, combining traditional filming techniques with AI-generated graphics. The editing phase involved several iterations, in which he experimented with pacing and audio to create an immersive viewing experience. Collaborating with local artists, Weintraub incorporated diverse perspectives and ideas, enhancing the depth and resonance of the video. The final piece emerged from a careful synthesis of these elements, ultimately captivating audiences and securing its accolades at both prestigious festivals.
The Eskenazi Technology Innovation Lab, a key partner of AI+DF, explores how AI and creativity intersect across various disciplines. One project led by Jiangmei Wu investigates AI's impact on human creativity through Generative Origami AI, used in advanced architecture classes to enhance students' designs. The project aims to understand how AI assists in creative processes that require material and tactile understanding.
Megan Young's "Carry" project leverages AI to create an interactive archive of displacement stories. Through the AI-powered "StoryCatcher," viewers engage with personal narratives, blending AI with human experiences in museum and gallery settings.
Hoa Vo's research examines AI’s role in design through the study of AI-generated lighting products. Her ongoing project "Muse-Gen" explores AI's ability to create complex museum floor plans, with crowd-sourced and expert evaluations.
Garim Lee focuses on consumer perceptions of AI-created content, analyzing factors that influence skepticism and appreciation. Her research highlights strategies for managing consumer attitudes toward AI in commercial and non-commercial contexts, with a focus on ethics, innovation, and human effort. These studies collectively contribute to a deeper understanding of AI's evolving role in creativity, design, and public perception.
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The Eskenazi Technology Innovation Lab, inaugurated in the spring of 2024 at the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design, is dedicated to enhancing collaboration among faculty through sharing research, project collaboration, and grant-seeking activities. Under the support of A&H AI +Digital Futures and the Public Arts and Humanities Project grant, the lab has initiatedagroup of pioneering projects investigating the interplay between Artificial Intelligence (AI), creativity, ethics, and human behavior in the Post-Information Society, marked by the seamless fusion of technology with daily life. These projects include studying the potential of human-AI collaboration in clinical decision-making, exploring consumer ethics towards AI-generated content, investigating the dynamics between generative AI and human designers in creativity, and leveraging open-source AI-assisted workflows for algorithmic design creativity. With a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach, these initiatives aim to provide a holistic understanding of AI's multifaceted influence across various fields. Through workshops, seminars, shared resources, and student involvement, the lab promotes a synergistic research environment, contributing to a broader comprehension of AI's role in society.
Professors Arthur Liou and Caleb Weintraub have been developing artistic concepts for the Trades District public digital art installation, part of a Campus Community collaboration supported by a major Lily Endowment. Together, these installations will enhance the cultural landscape of Bloomington's Tech/Arts District, encouraging public interaction with art and technology while showcasing local and international talent. By merging artistic expression with technological innovation, they will transform the community's experience, creating a vibrant hub for creativity and collaboration.
Shimmering Braids is a dynamic LED installation designed to celebrate Bloomington's vibrant community and evolving identity as a hub for innovation. This hanging sculpture showcases an ever-changing tapestry of the city's landscapes, people, and industries, capturing the beauty of everyday life.
Suspended in a high-traffic public space, it integrates advanced technologies like Sony Crystal LED panels and ROE Creative Displays to create a compelling visual narrative.
In tandem, the Virtual Gallery Box will serve as an immersive, adaptable art space in the lobby of a selected building. This sleek, minimalist structure will feature transparent OLED screens and interactive elements, allowing visitors to engage with digital artworks and performances. The gallery can host artist residencies, curated exhibitions, and live-streamed events, fostering community engagement and collaboration.
The A&H AI+DF team members Rachel Plotnick, Caleb Weintraub, and Johan Bollen in collaboration with Professor Fritz Breithaupt led a campus effort for a Limited Submission NEH proposal to create a Center for Human Creativity in an Age of AI Center at IUB. As AI technologies have made rapid advances, particularly in their generative capacities: they do no longer merely process, distribute, aggregate, or disseminate information; rather, they have acquired capabilities to produce (text, images, stories, and information of various kinds); predict (from suggesting a song to finishing a sentence); and perform (embedded in creative industries and practices of sharing and communicating). These capacities raise critical social and ethical concerns not only about authorship, cultural production, and the creative process, but also about their propensity to amplify untrustworthy and untruthful content – all central questions for the humanities. The proposed Center for Human Creativity in an Age of AI responds to what we perceive as a need for sustained, trans-disciplinary dialogue about the impact and governance of AI. The Center will serve as a hub for collaborative, humanistic scholarship across the humanities and other relevant fields, bringing together the strengths of established institutions and individuals at Indiana University Bloomington and beyond, to systematically investigate the social, ethical, and cultural dimensions of human creativity as they intersect with AI technologies and systems.