2020 / GAN, 3D-Style Transfer, GPT-2
Can artificial lifeforms help us rethink our connection with nature? Sofia Crespo uses the lens of new technology to explore how their presence in the digital world can help us explore our common bonds.
This project is part of an ongoing exploration of artificial life using machine learning to generate insects, as well as their names and anatomical description. This gives us a way to engage with the rich diversity of the natural world in a virtual, digital space. The artists invite you to to explore and interact with the specimens on display.
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The artists used 3D models of hundreds of insects, literature about their life cycles, and close-ups of their textures to create this unique work. The lack of large, open datasets led to a fair deal of data augmentation.
The insects were generated using a GAN trained on data from 3D models. They were then textured with convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and given names and descriptions from a fine-tuned GPT-2 language model. The process included NVIDIA Quadro and GeForce RTX GPUs with TensorFlow and PyTorch frameworks, and cables.gl for the web experience.
Artificial intelligence is used in all parts of the process—from generating 3D forms to giving them surface texture and finally, descriptions.
Sofia Crespo is fascinated by biology-inspired technologies. One of her main focuses is the way organic life uses artificial mechanisms to simulate itself and evolve, implying that technologies are a biased product of the organic life that created them and not a completely separated object. She’s also concerned with the dynamic change in the role of the artists working with machine learning techniques.
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Dark Fractures is a studio meditating on ecology, nature, and generative arts, with a focus on giving non-humans new forms of presence and life in digital space. The team is highly influenced by the development of new deep learning technologies, driving their passion to explore meditations on nature as a way of growing an appreciation for biodiversity and our natural world.
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