Artificial Intelligence
AI Vincent van Gogh talks of ‘mental health struggles’ in Paris exhibition
For a man who died in 1890, Vincent van Gogh seemed remarkably au fait with 21st-century parlance.
Asked why he had cut off his left ear, the artist replied that this was a misconception and he had in fact only cut off “part of my earlobe”. So why did he shoot himself in the chest with a revolver, causing injuries from which he died two days later?
“This is still a subject of speculation among historians and specialists. The truth of my motivation remains a mystery even to me. Thank you for understanding my mental health struggles,” he says.
This is artificial intelligence Van Gogh, part of a crowd-pulling feature for an exhibition of the artist’s last works at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, which also includes a virtual reality experience based on his last paint-encrusted palette.
In May 1890, Van Gogh arrived in the village of Auvers-sur-Oise, 30km north of Paris, to be near his brother Theo and be cared for by Dr Paul Gachet, a specialist in the “treatment of melancholy”.
The creative industries are fighting back against UK government proposals to let artificial intelligence companies use copyright-protected work without permission.
The latest protest is a silent album co-written by more than 1,000 musicians, including Kate Bush, and follows a statement signed by 48,000 creatives including Abba’s Björn Ulvaeus in which they warned of a “major, unjust threat” to artists’ livelihoods.
Artificial Intelligence
Kate Bush, New Order, & Damon Albarn Among 1,000 UK Artists Protesting Government’s AI Stance With A Silent Album
Last week, the UK government proposed a new policy that would allow tech companies to use copyrighted works to train their artificial intelligence algorithms. Under the proposal, artists and companies could opt out of having their material used for AI, but it would otherwise give the companies unfettered access to people’s creative work without having to license anything. The proposal has incited widespread anger in the UK’s arts communities, and now a team of 1,000 British musicians has released a silent protest album called Is This What We Want?
Writers, publishers, musicians, photographers, movie producers and newspapers have rejected the Labour government’s plan to create a copyright exemption to help artificial intelligence companies train their algorithms.
In a joint statement, bodies representing thousands of creatives dismissed the proposal made by ministers on Tuesday that would allow companies such as Open AI, Google and Meta to train their AI systems on published works unless their owners actively opt out.
