Risen from the dead

Georg Trakl chats back at AI exhibition

Artist Tobias Hammerle has digitally resurrected the poet Georg Trakl. He calls his installation "Chat GT".

(Bild: Gabriele Krisch)

From Thursday, the Traklhaus in Salzburg City will be exploring the influence of artificial intelligence on art.

"The bald man looks sad. This is reflected in his self-esteem" - this is how artificial intelligence judges the photo of a model. Based on the facial features, the computer created a symbiotic vision as part of the exhibition "AI and Art. A symbiotic vision", the computer made an admittedly not quite so charming assessment. Visitors to the show, which opens tomorrow at the Traklhaus, can try the experiment on site with their own photos. It's probably best not to be squeamish.

A few meters away, you can chat with Georg Trakl. "We have used a data set of his poems as the basis for the computer's answers," explains artist Tobias Hammerle.

Stephanie Meisl in front of AI works by artist Lulu Schmidt

(Bild: Gabriele Krisch)

However, the curator of the exhibition is not entirely clear what the computer was guided by when creating Stephanie Meisl's pictures: "All current AI systems actually prohibit working with motifs that show naked people," she says. However, one of her pictures shows just one undressed lady in large format. This opacity and questions about data security are also addressed in the exhibition.