Neural networks

Neural networks is an art series where I muse about the connection between artificial neur(on)al networks and our brain. Humankind has succeeded to replicate many of nature’s processes in the form of cultivating animals and plants, flying like an artificial bird in the sky and diving like iron fish in the Sea. Today we enter into the era where we try to mimic the processes of the brain via artificial intelligence, which makes use of neural networks, just as our brain does (neurons, synapses, transmitters,…).

I like to think that the difference between AI and our brain is like the digital versus the analogue:

Although digitisation can be fine-tuned to an imperceptible resolution (like a music CD), curves allow an enormous flexibility that artificial intelligence cannot replicate, at least not at this time of writing. We probably will get to a point where both will fuse, if we succeed to live in symbiosis with nature, that is.

“The idea is that, by building machines of ever greater complexity, consciousness will emerge as a spontaneous and inevitable result, and that most over-used of sci-fi characters, the conscious robot, will become a reality” *

Susan Greenfield, “Mind change”, 2014 (page 76)

(*) To be fair, I took her  quote a little out of context because she actually makes the point how difficult that will be:

“The diverse neurochemistry of the central nervous system shows that quality cannot be reduced to quantity, that the complex dynamism of modulating chemicals and our brain is so much more then mere computation”

We will see where that goes, although science fiction has about 25% chance of becoming true, so who knows?  In this series I try to find proof of the potential of free thinking by asking neural networks what they think about themselves. This leads to various answers, of which most are what AI thinks (read compute) we want to see. After all, the publicly available neural networks are constructed to please us. However, there are times when I get really interesting responses, like this one, which is almost like its a symbolic language:

Artificial intelligence – The beginning. Original version 7680×4320

Although Neural networks is actually a continuation of the Neural conscious project, here I rework material rendered by AI and instead of pure AI output, mixing it with other techniques like 3D and image editing. in other words, AI infused art instead of AI art.

Screen shot of the Neural network 2 art video

But I continue in the same spirit, namely to create a fantasised idea about how artificial intelligence would express its own internal world. What would make its clock tick, so to speak, in a way not obviously understandable to humans, since these are expressions in a visual language alien to us.

You are invited to dive into this hybrid world of AI and human in this abstracted series of videos. The artworks will be minted on the Ethereum blockchain when the series is complete.
More info and examples will de added in the following weeks, so stay tuned. If you have any questions, feel free to comment below.