Performing with AI Aesthetics: Promptology, Style, Acting, Norms, Noise & Modality Fusion

This exploratory research workshop aims to delve deeper into the complex and multifaceted interdisciplinary field of AI aesthetics testing limits by tentatively "opening the black box" andexploring the challenges AI aesthetics poses for notions of generativity, authorship, ownership, human-machine co-creativity, performativity, dramaturgies of technology, human culture, sociality, mediality, and promptology. This research workshop will provide a platform for participants to reflect on the implications of AI aesthetics for the future of acting, performing, writing, image making, search/research, education, and multi-/crossmodal creativity. Modality fusion is vital in AI aesthetics as it creates more complex and nuanced representations, combining different modalities, such as text, image, sound, and video, which can be analyzed and synthesized to create novel experiences.

As an interdisciplinary platform, participants should be curious and courageous to think on recent terrain to engage in critical and reflective discussions on the challenges and opportunities presented by AI aesthetics. The goal is to contribute to the ongoing debate on the role of AI aesthetics in and beyond the arts in contemporary performative, multimodal, scientific, and technological media cultures proposing the following research questions: 

Modality Fusion in AI-generated aesthetics in the (performing) arts, media, and beyond:

1.In what ways are Multimodality and Crossmodal Attention related concepts in AI Aesthesis, and how do they influence the phenomenological level and modality fusion on the machine learning model level?

2.How can modality fusion and Transformers be used to create more immersive and inclusive artwork? What ethical and social considerations arise when combining sensory modalities in AI-generated content?

3.What new forms of aesthetic experience and artistic expression are made possible through modality fusion, and how do they challenge traditional notions of authorship and artistic creativity? 

4.How do they impact the fields of science, art, technology, and education, and what consequences do self-attention mechanisms in transformers have for AI aesthetics?

5.How are Transformers, including diffused models and GANs, shaping our understanding of aesthetics, creativity, and innovation in society, art, science, technology, writing, media, and education?

Cultural change and normativity brought by Ganism and Transformer architecture (including Diffusion models) in society, art, science, technology, writing, media, and education:

6.What are the ethical and normative implications of using AI in writing, including the impact of transformers and modality fusion models on writing practices, styles, and expression?

7.How is the use of AI in creation and presentation transforming the role of the artist, performer, and author in society? What are the ethical implications of AI aesthetics for policy, culture, and education?

8.What problematic issues arise in writing, transformation, and style changes within AI aesthetics applications of modality fusion models, and how can they be addressed?

9.How can AI-generated literature, image, video, and avatars be ethically and humanely designed to preserve the human element and ensure a Human Machine Difference (HMD) or AI agents - AI systems difference (UNESCO) prevails?

Promptology and the Performativity in AI aesthetics (prompt design, prompt aesthetics, prompt gestures, and prompt engineering):

10.How do prompts, finetuning strategies, and prompt injection hacks influence prompting and human thinking and behavior in the context of AI aesthetics?

11.How does language, including its foundational mediality, embodiment, and multimodality, perform in AI media and within algorithmic media?

12.To what extent can we consider AI a genuine author, and what are the implications of this for our understanding of art, creativity, and human agency?

13.How can prompt exploitation be used as an aesthetic strategy?

14.What is the relationship between prompts, performativity, protocol, information, library, and noise?

15.What is the role of language in AI aesthetics, and how can the performativity and pragmatics of language be understood when designing prompts?

16.What are the implications of promptology for co-creating meaning and forming shared understandings in human-machine interactions and AI aesthetics?

17.How do prompt design and prompting modalities impact the output and style of AI systems, and what challenges arise from combining human and AI-generated aesthetics in a performative context?

Search and Recommender Systems between AI Aesthetics, Rhetoric, and Ethics:

18.What role do these platforms play in shaping the future of AI aesthetics, and how can they be used to facilitate new forms of creativity and innovation?

19.How do search and recommender systems shape the normalizing effects of AI aesthetics, and how can we reflect on their influence on the evolution and diversity of the field?

20.What are the ethical implications of using AI in aesthetics, and what are the potential consequences for artists and audiences?

21.How do AI algorithms determine the relevance and ranking of information in response to search queries, and how do prompts influence this behavior?

22.What role do aesthetics play in the presentation of search results, and how do users interact with them?

23.How can the design and use of prompts in AI search algorithms be optimized to improve the quality and relevance of search results?

24.How does the use of AI in search impact traditional concepts of authorship, ownership, and control over information?

25.How are search engines and recommender systems related to the concepts of persuasion and rhetoric, and what are the ethical implications of these connections?

26.What is the impact of search and recommender systems on AI aesthetics?

Noise in AI aesthetics

27.How can the concept of noise be used to explore the epistemological and ontological dimensions of AI aesthetics, and what are the implications for our understanding of knowledge and reality in the digital age?

28.How do different conceptions of noise impact the relationship between humans and technology in AI aesthetics, and what are the ethical implications of this relationship?

29.How can noise in AI aesthetics challenge or reinforce established modes of representation, and what are the implications for producing and consuming information?

30.How can noise be a fundamental component of AI media aesthetics, disrupting established modes of representation and opening up new possibilities for artistic expression within AI aesthetics?

31.Can noise disrupt established power structures and create new forms of social organization, challenging and transforming existing aesthetic norms and disrupting established codes, conventions, and acting policies?

32.Does the absence of noise lead to synchrony, homogenous, monocultural technological, or politically disruptive systems? 

33.How can noise provide the basis for differentiation, diversity, and change for creating meaning in AI aesthetics?

Societal issues of AI aesthetics and AI media

34.How has the development of neural networks and other AI technologies impacted the evolution of AI aesthetics and media, and what historical and social factors have influenced this evolution?

35.What are the implications of the rise of large language models, such as GPT-3 and ChatGPT, for society and culture, and how do they mark a turning point in the history of AI aesthetics and media?

36.How can we mitigate the risks of AI-generated propaganda, misinformation, paltering, trolling, information-bombing, and other influencer operations (Goldstein et al. 2023), and what ethical and aesthetic considerations need to be taken into account when designing interventions to address these risks?

37.How can AI be used to enhance the experience of sound and music in creative fields, and what are the implications of relying on AI algorithms in these contexts, potentially leading to a homogenization of visual content?

38.How can we ensure that AI systems are developed and implemented in a way that is aesthetically and ethically responsible, and how can we measure the impact of these choices on society?

39.What ethical implications arise from using AI in algorithmic playwriting, scriptwriting, and serial writing, particularly regarding authorship, creativity, and intellectual property?

40.How can we ensure that AI-generated avatars are used in a way that is ethical and responsible, and how do they challenge traditional notions of identity and embodiment?

41.What are the potential risks of relying too heavily on AI-generated voice and sound to manipulate the emotional response of audiences in various media?

42.How does the use of AI in creative fields guide the relationship between the artist/creator and the audience, and what are the attention bottlenecks in the distribution and consumption of creative works?

43.How can AI algorithms and applications in film scores, soundtracks, sound and image editing/cutting, or "joining/fusion" be used ethically and responsibly, and what are the consequences of their use in these contexts?

We invite you for an active collaborative workshop participation (not mere listeners but interested in a growing research network on AI aesthetics and Philosophy of Technology) in the workshop with a 10- 20 min research statement/ unpublished working paper presentation or with a 5 min problematization or a short comment. We offer the possibility of a peer-reviewed publication of selected papers. See information about our call for papers below. Inquiries and inscription with a title and a short abstract (300-500 words) and up to 5 keywords  Deadline: 30/3/2023 max 20 participants to: [email protected]

Participants are invited to contribute to a Special Issue on "AI Aesthetics" Semeiosis, USP, Brazil (by May 20th, 2023)