It's an interesting idea, and it's fun to see the idea of an AI agent being explored within the relatively benign realm of artistic expression.
That said, Botto still poses some ethical conundrums. Many working artists are rightly concerned about the impact AI will have on their profession, as models trained on millions of copyrighted works are used to generate infinite results on demand.
Maybe Botto is something completely different. Klingemann is an early adopter of AI in art, using neural networks as part of the artistic process and as a kind of performance technique. His previous creations include a video installation with ever-changing AI-generated portraits and a robot dog that critiques visual artworks.
And while Botto generates expensive images using a model trained in public work, Klingermann doesn't consider this outright plagiarism. “Image models and LLMs are the new search engines,” he says. “For me, creativity is finding something that already exists in the possibility space, and it's interesting to decide on it, while making sure it looks [like it] doesn't belong to anyone yet.”
The images created by Botto appear aesthetically pleasing, but also feel – to my untrained eye at least – like fairly generic AI image generators.
While the Botto project raises some interesting questions about what constitutes artistic agency, I think for now it only highlights the importance of human intelligence and inventiveness. The spark of creativity does not belong to the machine that produces an endless variety of images with audience feedback, but to the artists who came up with the idea in the first place.
What do you think of Botto and his artwork? Is it a valuable artistic idea or just another way to make money with generative AI and meme coins? Send a message to hello@CBNewz or leave a comment below to let me know.
