Are images generated by computers and artificial intelligence (AI) software true works of art? Spanish photographer Ivan Punal Garcia asks this question, among others, in his multimedia project "We Love Plastic", on display at the 104 cultural centre in Paris.
"We Love Plastic talks about the new relationships between machines and humans through artificial intelligence," Punal Garcia tells RFI.
In this project, the Spanish photographer and videographer raises the questions that creation will face in the future such as: What will happen when we can no longer distinguish human-made from machine-made "art"?
"It started four years ago when I was working on another project. Suddenly AI came into the mix and I saw computers creating things that look like art. It was a strange feeling," Punal Garcia says.
"I started to ask myself: 'what I produce is art, what these machines create is art, so what the future will hold?'"
"My installation 'We Love Plastic' is like a performance. I presented a project that is made with 3D images and I think this is something we need to start to talk about, the future that is going to come."
Punal Garcia's project also addresses the paradox the world is facing with the climate emergency and the perpetual race towards new, innovating but polluting, technologies.
"It's a real problem. On one hand, we have computers creating all these beautiful images, on the other they require a great deal of energy to work with," says Punal Garcia.
"The energy needed to use that technology will probably destroy the environment."
Punal Garcia is pessimistic about the future with AI and points out the issue of over-consumption.
"Every day we buy things and we don't know where they really come from. These purchases use up a lot of energy, but we don’t care and we love that," he says.
"It's easy to click and to generate an image, and it's easy to click and to buy something from 10,000 kilometres away.
"My project is a dystopian project. I don't feel confident about the future because the tools we are using are created and controlled by huge companies."
The European young photography festival Circulation(s) runs from 25 March to 21 May 2023 in Paris's 104 cultural centre.
