Computer Vision in Tactical AI Art

TL;DR

This paper critically examines how computer vision technologies are used in tactical AI art, exploring their sociopolitical implications, artistic practices, and potential for social activism.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of CV-related tactical AI art, identifying key features, critical points, and challenges to enhance its social responsibility and political impact.

Findings

Identifies key themes and practices in CV-based tactical AI art

Highlights sociopolitical challenges and pitfalls in the field

Suggests routes for ethical and impactful development

Abstract

AI art comprises a spectrum of creative endeavors that emerge from and respond to the development of artificial intelligence (AI), the expansion of AI-powered economies, and their influence on culture and society. Within this repertoire, the relationship between the cognitive value of human vision and the wide application range of computer vision (CV) technologies opens a sizeable space for exploring the problematic sociopolitical aspects of automated inference and decision-making in modern AI. In this paper, I examine the art practices critically engaged with the notions and protocols of CV. After identifying and contextualizing the CV-related tactical AI art, I discuss the features of exemplar artworks in four interrelated subject areas. Their topical imbrications, common critical points, and shared pitfalls plot a wider landscape of tactical AI art, allowing me to detect factors that affect its poetic cogency, social responsibility, and political impact, some of which exist in the theoretical premises of digital art activism. Along these lines, I outline the routes for addressing the challenges and advancing the field.