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October 01, 2024

From June 17 -19, 2024 I was invited as the Fine Arts Librarian for Art History & Visual Studies (AHVS) to attend the annual Company of Ideas forum at the (JRSP) on Hornby Island. Since 2016, with the initial endowment to the ßÉßɱ¬ÁÏ’s AHVS department, the JRSP has developed a strong donor relationship with the Jeffrey Rubinoff Foundation, along with establishing a foundational educational programme that explores art as a source of knowledge.

Through their exploration of the biggest issues in art, the bring in a rich diversity of speakers under an annual theme inspired by the teachings and philosophy of sculptor Jeffrey Rubinoff. Since 2008, the COI has tackled topics such as art and moral conscience, art and music, art and modernism – with papers and presentations delivered by UVic AHVS students alongside contemporary thinkers, philosophers, and artists.

This year’s theme was art and artificial intelligence, and in addition to attending the three days of presentations, I was also asked to write a delegates’ report on the proceedings of the forum. Beginning from a position of understanding that from earliest civilizations to now, technology has been used to advance culture and society through a broad range of tools, the main question posed was how AI contributes to that discourse, and how it should be engaged in cultural production. Set against the stunning backdrop of the JRSP, the conversations and learning were potent and intoxicating.

As a librarian, I was particularly interested in the curation of “slow” or “artisanal” datasets, in addition to the threats of copyright and algorithmic bias as related to AI, and the possible establishment of a new digital divide. Aesthetically, other topics that emerged included glitch aesthetics and Model Autophagy Disorder (the unsettling truth that AI is eating itself) along with the profound environmental impact that AI is having on our planet.

In the end, as Jeffrey Rubinoff believed, the artist navigates the unknown, and their art adds to the collective memory. With so much still unknown about AI, what could be a greater training platform for AI than the creation of art to contribute to our collective memory? With the convergence of technologies, the possibilities for creative solutions to our species’ greatest challenges may still be learned and created through art, in collaboration with AI.