Exam season is over! Let's celebrate with a talk by Professor Fiebrink, followed by networking and board games. Join us for the fun!

 

Beyond the hype: How machine learning can support human creative practices
Wednesday 31 May 2023, 4:00pm – 5:00pm

Abstract

Recently, there has been an explosion of interest in machine learning algorithms capable of creating new images, sound, and other media content. Computers can now produce content that we might call novel, sophisticated, and compelling. When researchers, artists, and the general public discuss the future of machine learning in art, the focus is usually on a few basic questions: How can we make content generation algorithms better and faster? Will they put human creators out of a job? Are they really making ‘art’?

In this talk, Professor Fiebrink proposes that we should be asking a different set of questions, beginning with how we can use machine learning to better support fundamentally human creative activities. With examples from her research, she'll show how prioritising human creators (professionals, amateurs, and students) can lead to a new understanding of what machine learning is good for, and who can benefit from it. Machine learning can aid human creators engaged in rapid prototyping of new interactions with sound and media, or empower more people to participate in the creation and customisation of new technologies.

Machine learning is leading to new types of human creative practices with computationally-infused mediums, in which a broad range of people can act not only as designers and implementors, but also as explorers, curators, and co-creators.

Biography

Rebecca Fiebrink is Professor of Creative Computing at the University of the Arts London. Her teaching and research focus largely on how machine learning and AI can change human creative practices.

Fiebrink is the developer of the Wekinator creative machine learning software, which is used around the world by musicians, artists, game designers, and educators. She is the creator of the world’s first online class about machine learning for musicians and artists. Much of her work is driven by a belief in the importance of inclusion, participation, and accessibility. She works frequently with human-centred and participatory design processes, and is currently working on projects related to creating accessible technologies with people with disabilities, designing inclusive machine learning curricula and tools, and applying machine learning to countering bias in art collections with the UAL Decolonising Art Institute.

Professor Fiebrink previously taught at Goldsmiths University of London and Princeton University, and has worked with companies including Microsoft, Smule, and Imagine Research. She holds a PhD in Computer Science from Princeton University.

How to join

Please register on Eventbrite. For external visitors, please email Alfie Abdul-Rahman (alfie.abdulrahman@kcl.ac.uk) to arrange access.

Location: Bush House Centre Block, (S)5.01