WHAT IS ESSENCE?
Munkhtulga Battogtokh in collaboration with Alice White (2023)
Can a machine ‘see’ like a human?
What is essence? examines how humans and machines see and attribute meaning. Using AI-generated images of humans and animals, shown in various ‘artistic’ styles, the exhibit pushes the limits of current AI capabilities, exposing the ever-closing gap between human intelligence and AI.
The lenticular print captures different ways in which a 'human' can be seen. Look closely to spot how biases within current image-generating algorithms affect the human forms portrayed. What gets lost in the machine’s interpretation of a concept? Can we improve this by building better datasets? Or is understanding essence something beyond a machine’s capacity and an artefact of how our human minds work?
Share your own unique perspectives to this ongoing project via the interactive drawing tablets. You’ll be helping researchers understand what essential information machines should pay attention to, rather than ignore. This will enable them to develop explainable, robust models that see the world more like us.
CREDITS
Commissioned by Science Gallery London
Supported by: Safe & Trusted AI Centre for Doctoral Training, King’s College London; Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences, King’s College London
Created by: Munkhtulga Battogtokh, Department of Informatics, King’s College London
Collaborating artist: Alice White
MUNKHTULGA BATTOGTOKH is a 3rd year PhD research student in the Safe and Trusted AI Centre for Doctoral Training (STAI CDT) programme at King's College London whose PhD research focuses on the explainability and trustworthiness of computer systems that interact with humans in natural languages. More broadly, his current research interests include the following topics in the context of AI: human perception, human expressions (in language, art, etc.), and human cultures. Website / Instagram
ALICE WHITE is an oil painter, art lecturer and tutor. Employing a expressive, painterly language of figurative forms, Alice's artwork explores how wildlife in inner-city habitats impacts positively on personal, social and psychological spaces. Her studio work translates complex scientific language easily digestible visual forms. She is a Tutor at University of the Arts London and an Accredited Lecturer for The Art Society. Website / Instagram / Twitter