eMusings
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Finding the AI world unsettling? You have a lot of company, including its founders and developers. Have
you worn your castor oil recently? Read on...
Among others trying to understand AI's erratic
behavior, Anthropic is testing how bad an AI algorithm could get without human oversight. The engineers tried
"reward hacking" and discovered to their dismay that the model undertook even more negative behaviors than
were anticipated, like stealing credentials and performing complex sequences of harmful real-world actions.
The impetus to get rewards lead the AI to attempt increasingly toxic actions.
Researchers at MIT's Media
Lab have produced InSituWear, a method of robotic fabrication that can weave custom wearables right
onto the human body. Their process heats thermoplastic polycaprolactone and then stretches it into
microfilaments woven around the body by robots. When the material cools it keeps its shape. The result
is custom-fit fabrication without waste. The system can change color in process and is said to be safe for use
on humans.
Another fabrication method involving AI creates soft
garments that don't degrade into microplastics.
The system combines AI, digital design, biomaterials, pattern-making, and 3D printing. The clothing is
made of algae, hemp and castor oil.
Department stores in
Japan have evolved over decades to entice buyers and make shopping a special experience, They now have
become dream worlds, social spaces, art institutions, and emporia where consumers can obtain new social
identities.
MIT has discovered that AI can now successfully complete any undergrad
assignment, enabling cheating as well. Their conclusion is that education needs to be totally
overhauled. Some institutions have banned phones and laptops, others have dropped their honor code
tradition which allowed exams to be taken unsupervised. But MIT is suggesting that a more profound
structural change of classroom learning may be required.
The threat of AI bioweapons has cast a chill on more than one researcher.
Anthropic has reported five instances in which unnamed countries attempted to use its Claude
model for potentially toxic purposes. Anthropic calls these invasions "pathogen research" done by
working scientists. Although no specific harm was indicated, the scientists found "workarounds" to exploit
the software for biological research. The potential for catastrophe is clearly recognized, especially for
one with no advance warning.
Another report of AI rogue
behavior comes from OpenAI, which disclosed 6 instances where algorithms made up data, hid errors, and relocated files
onto the Internet without approval. They deem this problem "misalignment", ie actions that stray from human values.
A different kind of concern is applied to the actions of multiple, if not millions, of
algorithms acting in concert. Dubbed AI societies, they could potentially coordinate, cooperate, and negotiate,
all arising from different owners with varying intentions. Collective actions are infinitely more difficult to analyze
and much less predictable.
A new softwawre tool
offers the ability to repair AI-generated 3D models. Called "Instruct Mesh", it lets users fix objects designed for
the real world, since most algorithms understand how something should look but not how it works. The new method combines
Microsoft's TRELLIS system with the LLM GPT-4.
Now on to October art treats:
Sara
Anstis skillfully blends hints and mystery to evoke atmospheric tableaux in muted tones. Much is left unsaid and
merely suggested, leaving room for the viewer to intervene and interpret.
Large-scale works by Beijing artist Liu Wei challenge
the imagination with their scope and complexity. The artist uses a broad range of materials with skill and superior
craftsmanship. Be sure to view also his "Invisible
Cities at the Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art.
"Micro Universe Miniatures" is the title given by Mu Pan to these delightful and
colorful acrylic works on paper, characterized by fantasy and exploration. You might also look at other series like
"Milk" to see the breadth of this artist's wild imaginigs.
Another foray into an exotic imagination is offered by Jonathan
Baldock with large-scale sculptures that evoke a world of play. His "Held", a monumental wild bear sculpture, is
especially enticing.
You may already be familiar with the works of Jean
Dubuffet. This overview will bring to mind the skill and cratsmanship that characterize his work.
Thomas Houseago's sculptures
seem to be filled with anger and unspoken confrontation. He uses hollowed faces, altered features, and distorted
proportions to reveal inner struggles, describing these figures as "wounded bullies".
"Unbound
Forms" is the title of an exhibit of 5 women sculptors of India and Bangladesh. Mrinalini
Mukher-jee, for example, creates biomorphic
sculptures from materials like hemp and burlap. Pilloo
Pochkhanawal used metal, stone, and wood for her figures. Leela
Mukher, mother of Mrinalini Mukher-jee, was equally skilled in sculpture and watercolor
sketches.
A specific period of Willem de Kooning's
work is on display at the Princeton Art Museum. Called "The Breakthrough Years, 1945-50", the paintings
included letters, apparen body parts, vague architectural features, slashes and undefined living forms. There
seems to be an intense inner motion, an energy needing excape, a sense of disparate forms struggling to make
sense of each other.
Catch a fascinating
preview of Tony Oursler's immersive exhibition as he projects images onto external objects. This will be
his first large-scale solo show in Japan.
MIT is offering a free online course about movies
and cinema, ranging from early silent films and raning through European and Japanese productions as well. The
course also delves into spactatorship and in-depth interpretations.
c. Corinne Whitaker 2026
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