(de)Stabilizing Diffusions

The arrival of general purpose AI (GPAI) tools present a critical moment in AI’s publicity and the role of art within. On one hand, generative AI systems perpetuate the hyped genrefication and commodification of creative AI outputs as art, which troubles our understanding of what art is and more importantly how art is valued by the art industrial complex. On the other hand, the extractive nature of these systems raise fundamental questions surrounding questions of copyright and intellectual property.

The exhibition (de)Stabilizing Diffusions aims to defy the hype around generative AI tools by reshifting the focus on investigating these systems in and through artistic practice. It is then not the outputs that are of interest but rather the critical practices that artists employ when working with AI. Over the course of 10-days the exhibition showcases in-depth documentation of the creative strategies artists use to critically dissect generative AI systems. By doing so (de)Stabilizing Diffusions not only gives insights into how these systems work but more importantly aims at inspiring the adoption of similar strategies by engaged publics.

The exhibition is an extension of the two-day critical AI symposium (un)Stable Diffusions, which takes place on May 23 and 24 at Concordia University’s Milieux Institute. As a collaborative effort between the Machine Agencies working group at Concordia University’s Milieux Institute, the MUTEK festival of digital creativity and the Society for Arts and Technology the exhibition presents a continued effort into breaking down boundaries between artistic practice, academic research, and public engagement.