Machines and Metaphors

This is a guest post by Gene Kogan, an artist and programmer who applies emerging technology into artistic and expressive contexts, and teaches courses and workshops on topics related to code and art. Recent advances in deep learning research have renewed popular interest in machine intelligence. With new benchmarks set in tough problems (e.g., image classification and speech recognition), researchers are exploring unexpected and exciting applications, and eliciting public engagement and private investment. These recent breakthroughs have captured the attention of many for whom AI was previously obscure, as new capabilities spur applications of interest to wider public audiences.But these advances have captured more than just our attention; they’ve captured our  imagination. Artists have been quick to apply these new techniques for novel creations, exploring the uncharted territories of machine creativity, slyly provoking questions of greater importance. What is creativity anyway? How do machines perceive, learn, and imitate?