On Art and Artificial Intelligence - Kulturnest at ALBA

Dr. Pamela Chrabieh - Kulturnest co-founder and CEO, artist, academic, author, consultant, and activist - presented a conference on Visual Arts and Artificial Intelligence during the Bot-Reveries exhibition and roundtable at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts (ALBA), UOB, on January 23, 2024. Here is an excerpt of her speech:

“At present, and in my view, the use of AI by creatives - for instance, in the production of figurative art - is less about artificial intelligence engaging in critical reflection on art, and more about the evolution of algorithms and computer graphics, with their capacity to deconstruct and reconstruct data into forms and colors, with a particular focus on enhancing aesthetics.

We are still far from a moment when AI can independently engage in a profound reflection on art - its function, its goals, or the artist’s intention. There is therefore no need to panic. And if, one day, AI were to acquire such capacities, then one of two scenarios would unfold: either artists will have already found ways to reinvent themselves, or they will be replaced. If it is the latter, so be it - for it would mean that we have failed in our responsibility to adapt and reinvent.”

Dr. Chrabieh also expressed her gratitude to Professor and architect Samer Eid for his invitation and congratulated him on the success of this initiative: a superb setup and high-level interventions by colleagues, an achievement in itself in Lebanon given the ongoing instability, the war in the South, and the constraints posed by weak infrastructure, limited access to technology, and the absence of State support.