On the 30th of October 2024 over twenty philosophers, historians, and artists gathered at Newnham College at the University of Cambridge for The BSA Conference on the Future of Art [https://www.lcfi.ac.uk/news-events/event/the-future-of-art]
The event was led by BSA member Milena Ivanova (Cambridge) and included five sessions: (1) Ivanova started the day with a reflection on AI, Art and Morality, addressing questions regarding the status of AI artworks and their aesthetic and moral value; (2) BSA members Claire Anscomb and Alice Helliwell ran a session on authorship and creativity, asking the participants to reflect on the role of AI in the creative process and whether it can constitute a coauthor or a collaborator; (3) Dvija Mehta ran a practical session in which participants engaged in image generation with AI and were asked to produce a ChatGPT report of their favourite art, then feed it as a prompt into an image generator, reflecting in the process on the capacities and limitations on current GenAI; (4) Kerry McInerney and Aisha Sobey ran a practical session reflecting on the pitfalls and potential of representation in GenAI images, including another practical aspect in which they asked the audience to use clay to represent themselves. Members produced a number of representations of themselves, from a brain (representing the philosopher!), to a bee, ballet dancer, a mushroom, and more abstract representations of musical notes, cubes and carrots! (5) Finally, the participants engaged in a group discussion on all key points of the day, led by Ivanova, and enjoyed a presentation of an art piece using GenAI.
The generous support of the BSA was used to cover travel costs and accommodation for the speakers, catering and art supplies. The organiser followed the BPA/SWIP guidance and made sure that the conference had good gender balance and cultivated a collaborative and respectful environment. In a traditionally male dominated field, this conference had the unusual format to be entirely led by women and was hosted in a women’s college. All speakers of the sessions were early to mid-career women, and there was good gender balance among the participants (65% women). To foster greater diversity and inclusion, the organiser selected the participants on the grounds of their interests and motivations only, including artists, academics, as well as participants from industry. The organiser paid close attention to continuing this engagement beyond the day of the conference and subsequently created a mailing list with all consenting participants to further continue the exchange of ideas and foster collaborations.
