From Innovation to Art: The History of AI Images
Author: Agnes Ferenczi, Published on the 31st of May at www.foam.org
From ancient myths about artificial beings, to the introduction of electronic computers in the mid-20th century, Ágnes Ferenczi reflects on a long-standing human ambition to breathe life into inanimate objects. This article is part of Foam Magazine #66: Missing Mirror – Photography Through the Lens of AI.
When the camera first appeared, it divided the art community. Some artists welcomed this new medium as a revolutionary tool for expression, while others viewed it with suspicion, fearing it might relegate older practices such as traditional portraiture to the background. However, as photography evolved, it enriched these traditional techniques and provided artists with new horizons, leading to the development of new artistic styles. Over time, photography transcended its status as a mere tool for documentation, becoming an independent artistic medium.
Throughout history, artists have consistently demonstrated their interest in technological advancements, often incorporating innovations into their creative processes. The camera obscura, a precursor to the modern camera, is a fine example, enabling artists such as Vermeer to create realistic paintings. Leonardo da Vinci explored the mechanics of flight, anatomy, and engineering, integrating these concepts into his artworks. What photography represented as a significant technological breakthrough in the 19th century, parallel advancements were made in digital technology and computing in the 20th century, which all impacted art. Today, the widespread availability of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies has led many artists to adopt these tools for creative expression. However, just as in the early days of photography, this genre is still seeking its place and acceptance within the traditional art world.
The concept of AI traces back to ancient myths about artificial beings endowed with human-like qualities, reflecting a long-standing human ambition to breathe life into inanimate objects. Throughout the 1800s, this fascination grew, with early versions of artificial life appearing in literature, with works like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. However, the form of AI that we recognise today began to take shape with the advent of electronic computers in the mid-20th century. In 1950, Alan Turing, the pioneer in computer science, made a seminal contribution to the field with his paper ‘Computing Machinery and Intelligence’. In this work, he explored the question of whether a machine can think and developed the Turing Test as a measure of machine intelligence. In 1956, the term artificial intelligence was introduced by John McCarthy at the iconic Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence. McCarthy organised a two-month meeting of leading researchers to explore the potential for creating machines that could replicate human intelligence, formally recognising AI as a research field and setting the stage for future innovations.
Helena Sarin, AI Candy Store, 2018, Fine art print on paper, 20x20cm © Helena Sarin, courtesy of Kate Vass Galerie, Zürich
David Young, (b38, 4016,16) from Learning Nature series, 2018, Fine art print on paper, 30x30 cm © David Young, courtesy of Kate Vass Galerie, Zürich
As computers became faster and had enhanced storage capabilities in the 1960s, important developments occurred. Programs such as the General Problem Solver addressed a broad spectrum of problems. In 1966, the first chatbot, named ELIZA, was created by Joseph Weizenbaum. Then, in 1972, Waseda University, in Japan, introduced WABOT-1, the first advanced humanoid robot capable of walking and communicating.
Alongside AI, computer-generated art has also taken its first steps. Due to the rapid development of computer technology, Max Bense’s information theory, and the systematic, interactive, and process-orientated aspects of kinetic, concrete, and op art, artists began to use autonomous systems such as computer programs and algorithms for artistic expression in the 1960s. In these early days, they frequently collaborated with scientists, as computers were not widely available and were primarily housed in universities, research institutions, or large corporations. Parallel to the rise of generative art, generative photography also emerged, with roots that go back to 1920s experimental photography and 1950s concrete photography. Generative photography refers to the methodical creation of visual aesthetics through predefined programs that apply photochemical, photo-optical, or photo-technical operations, combining traditional photographic mediums with mathematical algorithms. The first exhibition which showcased these works was organised at Kunsthalle Bielefeld in 1968 and featured artists like Hein Gravenhorst and Gottfried Jäger.
Harold Cohen, Arnolfini Series, 1983, Plotter drawing, 60x80cm © Harold Cohen, Kate Vass Galerie collection, Zürich