The Artist's Road Painting the World's Beautiful Places

Does AI Rule the Future?

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

   Lately, I have been reading about developments in color science, advanced laser projectors and the movie industry. Leading the field are Pixar and Dolby, who together have developed technologies and AI agents to render and project more colors than seen in Nature, onto screens most people don’t have access to yet. They have pushed the boundaries of luminance and saturation, in particular, to create the blackest blacks and most intense, vibrant colors imaginable for their productions. This is useful for manipulating viewers emotions from scene to scene.

   Using the most powerful laser projectors in the world with double the number of “guns”, Pixar researchers figured out how to blast out certain wavelengths of light—essentially overloading the eye’s color receptors for that color, and then suddenly to drop that color out. In reaction to that abuse, the brain compensates with heightened sensitivity to colors in complement to that—creating images in the mind which don’t actually exist on the screen!

   Likewise, Dolby, ever pushing the boundaries, has discovered ways to make us feel physical sensations not present in the theater. They have developed technology to present images which are so sharp and brilliant that they can make viewers feel heat on their skin when looking at a projection of a flame, for instance. They have installed sensors in their research theaters which can measure those physical changes, indicating arousal. The future of theaters with this special equipment looks bright, indeed.

   So does the future of misuse and manipulation. As useful as technology and AI-driven programs are for science and research, we are beginning to understand they may have little  place in fine art. They will proliferate and people will be fascinated with these new toys, but the pendulum always swings back toward the human factor. Original work, truthful work, carefully considered and created with sensitivity, will always appeal to the hearts and minds of human beings. In the near future, hand-made art may be even more precious and valuable in a world of instant AI images.

   Keep painting!