Abstract
AI has been employed in the biological sciences since the sequencing and editing of genome; moreover, today it is now capable of computing genotype from phenotype, or making genetic background information from phenotype. Yet, while we carry genetic information of our ancestors, all we know of their phenotype is via photographs. Or, by photographs we can learn information on genetics. I refer to this rising field of research as - photogenetics (Peraica 2022). Photogenetics focuses on the concept of heredity through photographs. It may be traced to the middle of the 19th century, when Charles Darwin’s cousin, Sir Francis Galton, used photomontage to establish eugenics and draw initial conclusions about genetics. Lewis Hine implemented the same photographic technique, but Nancy Burson, David Trooper, and others also computed the technique algorithmically. With the advent of genetic programming or artificial life, launched by Richard Dawkins’ breakthrough software Biomorph Land (1986), a number of artists have created branching-like genetic breeding in an artificial setting. Currently, neural network computations are based on this type of programming. The artworks as Imaginary Humans (2017) by Mike Tyka, This Person Does Not Exist (2019) by Philip Wang, depict portraits of people that have no genotype nor phenotype, but are based on computation of - phototype. As genetic types, phototypes are also sequenced by AI.
Presenters
Ana PeraicaVisiting Professor, Department for Arts and Cultural Studies, Danube University, Lower Austria, Austria
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2024 Special Focus—Images and Imaginaries from Artificial Intelligence
KEYWORDS
Artificial breeding, Epigenetics, Genetic Algorithm, Photogenetics, Phototype, Reproduction
