Caedmon: Creating Creativity
Can a computer make art? An interview with Maurizio Fusillo, a machine learning innovator with an artistic bent.
All quotes in this piece are transcripts of Maurizio Fusillo’s words from our podcast conversation; available to listen to here.
I’ve always had an obsession with the creative output of artificial intelligence. Across a variety of fascinating bots and other projects, it’s been shown that their artwork is more than worthy of scrutiny. Since the birth of the internet, and the entropic prevalence of technology over the past century, the poetic capability of such bots has improved at a vast rate.
Some of the most striking examples of art by an artificial intelligence come from Caedmon. Although it was built, designed and developed by Maurizio Fusillo — a human being — Caedmon operates entirely free from Fusillo’s influence or personal taste. The images it comes out with represent an organic learning curve, as it constantly assesses the features of a large library of source materials. In addition, it can revisit its own previous pieces with the extra perspective of growth. Interestingly, mirroring the phenomenon of peer review, Caedmon also considers the reception its art receives, tailoring its approach accordingly.
