Art History Lecture: "What's So Scary About Using Tech in Art?"

Date and Time

• Thursday, Nov 19, 2026  6:30pm - 7:30pm

Location

visit website

Details

When we think of AI, we often think first of generative tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, or even some of the “friendlier”-sounding models like Claude. AI has many uses, but for some artists the technology feels like a threat. Such anxieties are not new; artists have questioned emerging tools since the advent of photography in the nineteenth century. This lecture traces that recurring cycle of technological change, from photography and the photocopier to computer drawing and contemporary artificial intelligence models. By further distinguishing machine learning from generative AI, we will explore how artists, including those in featured in Shimmer: Dreaming the Posthuman, use these technologies as controlled, closed-circuit tools rather than relying on the unpredictable outputs of open-source generative platforms.