The Innovation Engine
GET AN INSIGHT INTO HOW A COMPUTER ‘THINKS’ AND ‘SEES’, 2015
Frederik De Wilde (BE), in collaboration with Jeff Clune and Anh Nguyen (US)
Machines can’t do what the human imagination can... yet. This installation researches the failure of machines and computers to simulate the human mind. The artist was inspired by the inability of machines to accurately simulate the process of evolution due to their lack of processing power and other key functions required to run complex simulations.
A touchscreen allows the visitor to navigate through and explore a deep neural network. In machines, an artificial neural network is a computer algorithm inspired by the central nervous systems of animals. The webcam analyses in realtime what it sees and what it has been ‘taught’ to detect. What is detected is visualised as highlighted artificial neurons. The audience can then browse through all the neural layers and get an insight into how a computer 'thinks' and ‘sees’. A voice tells visitors which layer they are looking at and what's happening. In a lot of cases, the visitor may not recognise these images, but the artificial intelligence appears to, demonstrating the limits of machine comprehension.
This work demonstrates how A.I. and deep neural networks are easily fooled, a dystopian thought when you take into account the fact that they are already used by the military, drones, and Tesla's self-driving cars. How much confidence do we have in ourselves and the technologies we develop? Or in societies and industries that are accelerating the development of A.I. and automatisation?
BIO
Frederik De Wilde works at the intersection of art, science and technology. The conceptual core of his artistic practice is the notion of the inaudible, intangible and invisible — as exemplified by the conceptualisation and creation of the Blackest-Black art, made in collaboration with NASA. The project received the Ars Electronica Next Idea Award, the Best European Collaboration Award between an artist and scientist, and it was extensively covered by The Huffington Post, The Creators Project, TED, and more. In 2016, Frederik was a finalist in Giant Steps: Artist Residency on the Moon, a speculative exhibition about making art on the Moon. Frederik has collaborated with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Collective MicroRobotics lab, is a finalist of the ZKM AppArtAward with Coremites, and often uses data — like data visualisations and sonifications — as a source for his creations.