On Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts: What Can AI Do for Us?

02/25/22 • 56 min

This is episode #12 of the podcast and it’s Thursday, the 24th of February, 2022.

My guest today is Dr. Jay Friedenberg, Professor of Psychology at Manhattan College where he founded and directs the Cognitive Science Program, and where he had served as Department Chairperson for over a decade. Dr. Friedenberg is a vision researcher and has published articles on symmetry detection, center of mass estimation and empirical aesthetics. In addition, he has written a number of science books. These include undergraduate texts in cognitive science, artificial intelligence and non-linear dynamics. He is also an artist focusing on pastel landscapes and urban sketching and is serving his third year as President of the Haiku Society of America.

We started the discussion with his book on "Understanding Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts: An Interdisciplinary Approach”, addressing the challenges in defining beauty, art, and creativity. After considering whether beauty is sensory in nature or more intellectual, we debated if beauty and art can be studied scientifically, and addressed the role of intuition in art creation.

The second part of the discussion moved toward technology. Since AI has found its way into the world of art for quite some time now, we looked at how it has already influenced the art industry. Is AI going to replace artists or is there always going to be some human intervention required to create art? And, if so, is the art ecosystem going to equally welcome both kinds of art creation?

Looking in the future, Jay shared his opinion on the role of AI in the art space in the next 10-20 years, debating who should own the copyright and the ethical implications of AI in creating art. Here is the show.

Show Notes:

Defining beauty, art, and creativity
- Is beauty sensory/emotional in nature or more intellectual? What is the role of intuition in art creation?
- Can beauty and art be studied scientifically?
- AI and the art industry
- The role of AI in the art space in the next 10-20 years
- Should AI own the copyright?
- Ethical implications of AI in art creation

Note:
Links o Jay Friedenberg's books on Amazon:
1) Jay Friedenberg. The Future of the Self: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Personhood and Identity in the Digital Age. 1st Edition. University of California Press. 2020. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KCW7319/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i4
2) Jay Friedenberg. Understanding Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts: An Interdisciplinary Approach. 2020.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08G1SG16R/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i2
Jay's art:
bigapplearts.com

This is episode #12 of the podcast and it’s Thursday, the 24th of February, 2022.

Show Notes:

Previous Episode

Thinking Styles, Kinds of Knowledge, and the Senses: Learning from Scientists and Fiction-writers

This is episode #11 of the podcast and it’s Thursday, the 10th of February, 2022. It was my pleasure to talk today with Dr. Laura Otis who comes from a background in biochemistry, neuroscience, and laboratory research, but she is now an English Professor at Emory University. She is the author of multiple academic (but readable) books on the relationship between literature and science, and she has also published six novels. In her blog on creativity for Psychology Today, she writes about how the thinking of creative writers and scientists is connected. Laura tries always to write and talk so as to respect the intelligence and ways of knowing of people in very different fields who build knowledge differently.

We started the discussion with a definition of thought, focusing on the different ways people think and remember. Laura thinks that people’s mental worlds vary greatly. Believing that the world’s 7 billion mental worlds are similar, gives us just a crude, limited, and unrealistic picture of what human thinking involves. In fact, according to her, ‘Is thinking visual or is it verbal?’ is the wrong question to ask. In her interviews, Laura has also tried to see if there is any connection between thinking, feeling, and the senses as she asked her subjects questions like “Do you see anything when you read?” or “What senses predominate in your memories?”

In the second part of the show, we discussed her new project — a book called “The Neuroscience of Craft” on how fiction-writers and scientists can benefit from each other's knowledge about sensory systems. Here is the show.
Show Notes:
- What is thought?
- ‘Is thinking visual or is it verbal?’ The Visual — Verbal spectrum approach to thinking
- Differences in the way thinking feels
- An investigator’s training, language, cultural orientation, and even memories can influence a (scientific) study
- How can people with different thought styles learn to communicate with each other better?
- Ways of thinking in education: how can we better interact with our students
- Blending senses in fiction
Note:

Books and papers mentioned:
Laura C. Otis. (2015). Rethinking Thought: Inside the Minds of Creative Scientists and Artists. Oxford University Press.
Laura’s Amazon page has links to all of her published books for readers who are interested:

https://www.amazon.com/Laura-Otis/e/B001HMOU9W%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
A link to Laura’s Psychology Today blog:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/contributors/laura-otis-phd

Next Episode

Indigenous Perspectives in Planetary Health and the Preservation of Traditional Medicines

This is episode #13 of the podcast and it’s Thursday, the 10th of March, 2022.

My invited speaker today is Dr. Nicole Redvers, a member of the Deninu K’ue (“Deneh-noo-kweh”) First Nation in Denendeh. She has worked with Indigenous patients, scholars, and communities around the globe her entire career. Dr. Redvers is an assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and the Department of Indigenous Health at the University of North Dakota where she helped develop and launch the first Indigenous health PhD program. Dr. Redvers is co-founder and current board chair of Canadian charity the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation based in Yellowknife, NWT, providing traditional Indigenous-rooted Land-based wellness supports to northerners. She has been actively involved at regional, national and international levels promoting the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in both human and planetary health research and practice. She authored the trade paperback book titled, ‘The Science of the Sacred: Bridging Global Indigenous Medicine Systems and Modern Scientific Principles’.

We started the discussion with the inclusion of indigenous perspectives in planetary health and sustainable healthcare education, and then we narrowed the topic to the revitalization of traditional wellness services in the Canadian north with a focus on the preservation of Traditional Medicines. She hopes her book will help build bridges between traditional knowledge and western medicine.

We’ve also talked about the considerable interest (and even some initiatives out there) to create immersive experiences to teach indigenous languages and bring awareness to indigenous knowledge and perspective, and to the traditional healing practices in a land-based setting. Here is the show.

Show Notes:

promoting the inclusion of indigenous perspectives in planetary health and sustainable healthcare education.
- defining Traditional Medicine(s)
- building “bridges” between traditional knowledge and western medicine
- Indigenous languages and their connection to the land and wellness
- immersive experiences to teach indigenous languages and bring awareness to indigenous knowledge and perspective in a land-based setting

Note:

Link to Dr. Redver’s book:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/599277/the-science-of-the-sacred-by-nicole-redversnd/

Paper mentioned:

Nicole Redvers, Yuria Celidwen, Clinton Schultz, Ojistoh Horn, Cicilia Githaiga, Melissa Vera, Marlikka Perdrisat, Lynn Mad Plume, Daniel Kobei, Myrna Cunningham Kain, Anne Poelina, Juan Nelson Rojas, Be’sha Blondin. The determinants of planetary health: an Indigenous consensus perspective. Lancet Planet Health 2022; 6: e156–63