CAZENOVIA — This spring, Cazenovia High School sophomore Rio Harper dedicated his month-long manufacturing independent study to using artificial intelligence (AI) to create unique pieces of art.
During his time as a remote learner, Harper has explored the field of machine learning (ML) through YouTube videos and blog posts.
ML is a branch of AI based on the idea that systems can learn from data, identify patterns, and make decisions with minimal human intervention.
Using his knowledge of ML, Harper initially started creating rudimentary text prediction software, poems and music using coding.
As the school year progressed, he produced increasingly advanced projects, which eventually culminated in a proposal to develop a neural network that creates unique artwork, along with a technical explanation and tutorial.
After a month of research and development, the student was able to generate hundreds of thousands of original pieces of art.
Harper said he applied a variety of artistic styles by using the works of Zdzisław Beksiński, René Magritte, Salvador Dalí, and others.
“Think of trying to paint a still life portrait, where you need to reference the shapes, the colors, and the texture,” Harper said. “The AI references the artwork of the mentioned artists . . . in its learning. [Unlike] if I tried to reproduce the style of the art, the AI can do it thousands of times a minute and look at every minute detail of a painting with pinpoint accuracy. That’s what makes this tool so special.”
Harper recalled that he immediately thought the AI-produced images would make excellent album covers.
“Past that, I was impressed by the variation that was created, and by what applications this could be used for, which is something I’m still researching,” he added.
The purpose of the project was to explore the question, “What is the line between art and image?”
More specifically, Harper hoped to inspire a conversation about whether the AI images are simply textures and colors that have been “mashed together,” or whether there is something deeper and more philosophical behind each image.
“This is something that will be brought into question more and more as Machine Learning becomes more prevalent in our daily world,” he said.
The technical explanation of the project and the tutorial are available online at medium.com.
Harper said he plans to continue releasing tutorials for each of his projects in hopes of encouraging other to become interested in the field of AI.
“Artificial Intelligence is not just a jumble of graphs, nor is it only for science,” he said. “The creative applications are severely underrepresented and I want to change that.”
One of Harper’s upcoming projects involves cloning his own voice and then conducting an interview with his AI counterpart.
This summer, he will be visiting Stanford University and Cornell University as he begins planning for his educational future and continued exploration of AI.
