Eye on AI: AI and Creators

Join us in a thought-provoking panel discussion where we will explore the intersection of art and artificial intelligence. The speakers represent diverse disciplines including visual arts, music, and writing, and are all pushing the boundaries of creativity by integrating AI into their artistic practice. Discover how these innovators are harnessing the power of AI to inspire, challenge, and provoke thought and what it means to be a creator in the digital age.

Featuring:

Ryan Kelln is a Toronto-based software artist with over twenty years of experience spanning game and web development, interactive installations, and machine learning. A passionate advocate for open source and the Creative Commons, Kelln crafts art that celebrates themes of sharing, community, and creativity. His work is realized through ongoing projects that have evolved over a decade, as well as live performances with musicians and dancers. In 2023, he curated for the Provocation Ideas Festival When All Dreams Come True, an exhibition of works from both local and global artists that were made with, or about, generative AI. He also created the visual art using AI for the Provocation Festival’s Transmigration Concert, working with musician Dhaivat Jani, as well as the visual art for Provocation’s Neural Ballet, working with ballet artist Irina Lerman, combining original choreography and AI.  Kelln critically addresses technology while envisioning and advocating for inclusive, emancipatory systems. Beyond his artistic contributions, curation of generative art, and advocacy for art-making, his expertise in machine learning enables him to mentor emerging artists and educate the public through lectures and workshops.

Dhaivat Jani  is a Toronto-based award winning drummer/tabla player and a composer. A recent graduate from Humber College with a Bachelor of Music, his artistic ventures include ‘Dhaivat Jani PLUS,’ a contemporary jazz ensemble, and ‘Electrio,’ an experimental/electronic jazz trio. Beyond his roles as a bandleader, Dhaivat’s versatility is evident as he serves as a sideman for various artists, both a drummer and tabla player. His contributions extend to multiple cross-genre recordings.  One of the recent standout collaborations in Dhaivat’s career is Transmigrations, a project conceptualized and executed in collaboration with software artist Ryan Kelln. This innovative endeavor, showcased at the Provocation Ideas Festival, delved into the history of technological transformation, the essence of intelligence, and the recent revolution in generative AI tools.

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Chris Cowan  is a multidisciplinary artist living and working in the Ottawa Valley. Her art practice is untethered and dynamic, drawing from an obsessive fascination with the history of human visual art making, filtered through too much institutionalized conceptual fine arts education, and rooted in a sincere and joyful love of tactile, textured, colourful, sparkly, shinny things. She works in a wide variety of media, including, but not limited to: oil, acrylic, gouache and watercolour paints, latex house paint, pencil, markers, pen and ink, punch needle embroidery, photography, video, sound, lithography, intaglio, woodcut and book binding.

Karl Schroeder, Moderator  is an award-winning science fiction author who has been writing about Artificial Intelligence and related ideas for over 25 years. His dozen published novels include the informal “Rewilding” trilogy, comprising the books Ventus, Lady of Mazes, and Stealing Worlds. As well as writing, Karl is a consultant and speaker, holding a Masters in Strategic Foresight and Innovation from OCAD University. His newsletter can be found at https://kschroeder.substack.com.

Presented in partnership with the Toronto Public Library.

Monday, June 3 • 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm.
Toronto Reference Library – Beeton Hall
789 Yonge St. (Yonge and Bloor)