
I’m excited to introduce a new chapter in our journey at The Venture Variety Show: the launch of a podcast series in collaboration with AiNews.com called The AI Cognitive Shift: Voices Shaping the Future.
This podcast series will explore the impact of AI on our society and culture, as I interview various voices, including artists, professionals, business owners, founders, investors, policymakers, practitioners and innovators, among others.
In our debut episode, I spoke with artist Daniel Ambrosi. Daniel talks about his journey to become a digital artist and how he recruited the talents of engineers Joseph Smarr from Google and Chris Lamb from NVIDIA to help him expand his creative process.
Daniel now blends his creativity and skills with advanced AI technologies to redefine the landscape of modern art. Daniel emphasizes that his art is AI assisted and not AI generated.
Our conversation also touched on the recent Christie’s auction, called “Augmented Intelligence,” which stirred controversy within the art community. The auction featured works from 34 artists, including Daniel, and concluded with impressive sales totaling $728,784, demonstrating there’s an appreciation for AI’s role in art.
However, the event also highlighted the debate of AI-generated versus AI-assisted art. An open letter demanding the auction house cancel the show collected more than 3,700 signatures. Critics argued that AI art models are trained on copyrighted works without permission or compensation. Thus, the auction exploited artists to develop commercial AI tools that now compete against them.
In the podcast, Daniel said that characterizing much of the art in the auction as AI-generated slop was unfair. It “didn’t matter to me whether or not I got a bid,” Daniel said. “I was just so excited to be part of this historic auction, the first of its kind ever.”
Daniel also shared his perspective on the evolving roles of artists in the age of AI. For fine artists like Daniel, AI is a tool that helps elevate their work and extend their reach. However, for commercial artists, the cost-effectiveness of AI is changing how and who creates art for clients.
The same can be said for writers, marketers, musicians, filmmakers and other creative professionals. Advancements in AI tech can enhance the creative process while it also replaces the human effort.
“You don’t have to worry one iota about AI affecting the livelihood of fine artists,” Daniel says. “Artists for hire, yes, that is being impacted already in many ways.”
The AI Cognitive Shift
🔶 This podcast episode with Daniel sets the stage for The AI Cognitive Shift, a collaborative series to explore how AI is reshaping our cultural and societal landscapes. Whether you’re in the tech world or just curious about the convergence of technology and creativity, this podcast promises to spark discussions and broaden perspectives.
🔶 Stay tuned for more episodes on AiNews.com, followed by related posts here on Substack under The Venture Lens and The Venture Variety Show banners. And rest assured, The Venture Variety Show will continue to bring you podcast stories about founders, investors and platform specialists.
🔶 And please be sure to visit Daniel Ambrosi’s website to learn more about his art. For those in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can see one of his pieces in person at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.
🎧 Click on the video at the top to play the full episode. You can also follow The Venture Variety Show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
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