#12 - Matt Saunders: Is Artificial Intelligence Creative?

Road Work Ahead

Can a machine harbor the soul of an artist? This question leads our latest discussion with Harvard professor and acclaimed artist Matt Saunders.
It's not a simple question to answer. Creativity is a complex concept and we have to dig into the many ways that word could be defined. Who better to ask about creativity than someone who is both an accomplished artist himself and an instructor at one of the most distinguished art schools in the country?
Matt is a Professor of Art, Film, and Visual Studies at Harvard University. His art has been featured in exhibitions around the world, and the list of museums with his work in their collections includes the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and many other names that you would likely recognize.
Matt's art is grounded in the material - particularly painting, but in most of his work you can see how he challenges himself to push back against the idea of a static rectangle of paint-on-canvas and create something more dynamic and transient - something more like an experience than an image.
That same resistance to conventionality comes out in our conversation about AI, and it leads us to some brutally honest conclusions about how we view the techno-obsessed world around us.
Matt is a very thoughtful and inspiring person, and this interview is easily one of the more impactful conversations I've had in a long time.

Chapters

1. #12 - Matt Saunders: Is Artificial Intelligence Creative? (00:00:00)

2. AI's Creativity in Art and Technology (00:00:04)

3. AI as an Artist (00:15:28)

4. AI's Role in Creativity and Innovation (00:28:16)

5. Globalization's Impact on Human Knowledge (00:38:59)

6. Definition of Creativity in Digital Age (00:46:35)

7. The Future of AI in Film (01:01:36)