Define Value at Maker Faire Gent

What value does art have? An incredibly difficult question, because how do you measure such a thing? Do you express it in terms of money? The value of the individual raw materials that make up the work? The time and skill it requires of the artist? The well-known name of the artist? It is an issue that has only become more complicated in this digital age. A time when everything can be copied infinitely, or exists forever as NFT on the blockchain. This project hopes not to answer this question, but to bring it into focus. For what is the value of a work when it is created by an artificial intelligence? Not to be shared infinitely and exist forever, but unique and only finite in our world. For the artificial intelligence that made this work will destroy it after a completely unknown number of viewers

How do we define value, human?

The_Title.txt

When students learn computational thinking, we teach them to analyze, decompose, and break down a problem into small steps. Small steps that the computer can solve. Those steps are the components of our roadmap, also called algorithms. Algorithms determine our lives. In the digital and physical world.

Such a computer algorithm starts with determining variables and assigning a value. That is precisely where it goes wrong when we are talking about art. For however variable its form may be, assigning a 'value' is a lot more complicated than in computer science. To whom is it also to be assigned value? And to which factors, variables, is the 'value' subject? The first step in our algorithm, a standard procedure, which suddenly no longer exists ...

The_Artist.txt

One such variable in determining the value of a work, of course, is the name and fame of the artist. A Van Gogh, Warhol or Van Eyck draws eyes. Many want to see these marvels of human talent, some are willing to pay a lot of money for them. But what if the artist is an unknown? More so, when the artist is an artificial intelligence called DALL-E? Can such a system of complicated computer algorithms achieve creativity at all, and if so, what is it worth?

The_Artwork.txt

DALL-E's work is the product of minimal human input and maximum freedom for the AI. The human gives a description of the end result, of a feeling, of a scene ... then the human relinquishes control. The DALL-E takes over and creates its own interpretation.

Moreover, this interpretation is unique, because if one were to clone DALL-E and give the same command, the end result will not be exactly the same. Of course, one can copy and distribute the digital work endlessly. Therefore, we convert the AI's work into a printed version, place it in a special list, and destroy the digital copy. Not to be replicated, not to be duplicated, endlessly admired, right?

The_Exposition.txt

That endless admiration, that time component ... that too is a variable in our valuation. It is a variable that fascinates us, but where we relinquish control here. For when we look at DALL-E's work, DALL- E also looks at us. The special frame that the work is inserted into has a camera. This camera is connected to the list's AI brain. This brain is trained to recognize human faces. Not to distinguish Bert from Inez, but to detect when someone is looking at the list. DALL-E can do that because it is trained to see different human faces. Not through some search engine or creepy social media site, but through the AI system behind 'this person does not exist'. A website that takes endless unique photos of people who don't exist at all. Every time someone looks, DALL-E will tally ...

Why will DALL-E be pegging this? When the work is placed in the list and the camera is started, DALL-E places a random number in memory. A number that acts as a limit and is not communicated to the outside world. When the counter of recognized spectators is reached, the shredder built into the list will irrevocably destroy the work. The work will continue to exist as long as the AI has determined.

The_Question.txt

When does the work have "value"? When it exists intact in the list, when it has reached its arbitrarily determined total number of admitted visitors, when the work has gone through this entire process and ends up shredded ... Or did it never have value because it is merely the product of an unconscious artificial intelligence in a needlessly complicated thought process?

Making-of.mp4

I want this in my class! What do I have to do?

Do you want to work with this in your classroom? Super! The future will be increasingly digital. A future in which artificial intelligence will play a very important role. It goes without saying that we need to prepare and motivate young people. I am happy to help you with that! You can send me a message via the button below. I usually reply within 48 hours!