{"683125":{"#nid":"683125","#data":{"type":"news","title":"AI and Art Collide in This Engineering Course That Puts Human Creativity\u00a0First","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv class=\u0022theconversation-article-body\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\/topics\/uncommon-courses-130908\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EUncommon Courses\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ETitle of Course:\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EArt and Generative AI\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EWhat Prompted the Idea for the Course?\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI see many students viewing artificial intelligence as humanlike simply because it can write essays, do complex math or answer questions. AI can mimic human behavior but lacks meaningful engagement with the world. This disconnect inspired the course and was shaped by the ideas of 20th-century German philosopher \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fcCRmf_tHW8\u0022\u003EMartin Heidegger\u003C\/a\u003E. His work highlights how we are deeply connected and present in the world. We find meaning through action, care and relationships. Human creativity and mastery come from this intuitive connection with the world. Modern AI, by contrast, simulates intelligence by processing symbols and patterns without understanding or care.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn this course, we reject the illusion that machines fully master everything and put student expression first. In doing so, we value uncertainty, mistakes and imperfection as essential to the creative process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis vision expands beyond the classroom. In the 2025-26 academic year, the course will include a new community-based learning collaboration with Atlanta\u2019s art communities. Local artists will co-teach with me to integrate artistic practice and AI.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe course builds on my 2018 class, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\/this-engineering-course-has-students-use-their-brainwaves-to-create-performing-art-208434\u0022\u003EArt and Geometry\u003C\/a\u003E, which I co-taught with local artists. The course explored Picasso\u2019s cubism, which depicted reality as fractured from multiple perspectives; it also looked at Einstein\u2019s relativity, the idea that time and space are not absolute and distinct but part of the same fabric.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EWhat Does the Course Explore?\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe begin with exploring the first mathematical model of a neuron, the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/BF02478259\u0022\u003Eperceptron\u003C\/a\u003E. Then, we study the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.79.8.255\u0022\u003EHopfield network\u003C\/a\u003E, which mimics how our brain can remember a song from just listening to a few notes by filling in the rest. Next, we look at \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/S0364-0213(85)80012-4\u0022\u003EHinton\u2019s Boltzmann Machine\u003C\/a\u003E, a generative model that can also imagine and create new, similar songs. Finally, we study today\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/nature14539\u0022\u003Edeep neural networks\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.48550\/arXiv.1706.03762\u0022\u003Etransformers\u003C\/a\u003E, AI models that mimic how the brain learns to recognize images, speech or text. Transformers are especially well suited for understanding sentences and conversations, and they power technologies such as ChatGPT.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to AI, we integrate artistic practice into the coursework. This approach broadens students\u2019 perspectives on science and engineering through the lens of an artist. The first offering of the course in spring 2025 was co-taught with \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.markleibert.com\/\u0022\u003EMark Leibert\u003C\/a\u003E, an artist and professor of the practice at Georgia Tech. His expertise is in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/vip.gatech.edu\/teams\/vwh\u0022\u003Eart, AI and digital technologies\u003C\/a\u003E. He taught students fundamentals of various artistic media, including charcoal drawing and oil painting. Students used these principles to create art using AI ethically and creatively. They critically examined the source of training data and ensured that their work respects authorship and originality.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStudents also learn to record brain activity using electroencephalography \u2013 EEG \u2013 headsets. Through AI models, they then learn to transform neural signals into music, images and storytelling. This work inspired performances where dancers improvised in response to AI-generated music.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cfigure\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ciframe width=\u0022440\u0022 height=\u0022260\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5751omjg-jk?wmode=transparent\u0026amp;start=0\u0022 frameborder=\u00220\u0022 allowfullscreen=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cfigcaption\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022caption\u0022\u003EThe Improv AI performance at Georgia Tech on April 15, 2025. Dancers improvised to music generated by AI from brain waves and sonified black hole data.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EWhy is This Course Relevant Now?\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAI entered our lives so rapidly that many people don\u2019t fully grasp how it works, why it works, when it fails or what its mission is.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn creating this course, the aim is to empower students by filling that gap. Whether they are new to AI or not, the goal is to make its inner algorithms clear, approachable and honest. We focus on what these tools actually do and how they can go wrong.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe place students and their creativity first. We reject the illusion of a perfect machine, but we provoke the AI algorithm to confuse and hallucinate, when it generates inaccurate or nonsensical responses. To do so, we deliberately use a small dataset, reduce the model size or limit training. It\u2019s in these flawed states of AI that students step in as conscious co-creators. The students are the missing algorithm that takes back control of the creative process. Their creations do not obey AI but reimagine it by the human hand. The artwork is rescued from automation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EWhat\u2019s a Critical Lesson From the Course?\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStudents learn to recognize AI\u2019s limitations and harness its failures to reclaim creative authorship. The artwork isn\u2019t generated by AI, but it\u2019s reimagined by students.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStudents learn chatbot queries have an environmental cost because large AI models use a lot of power. They avoid unnecessary iterations when designing prompts or using AI. This helps reducing carbon emissions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cfigure\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ciframe width=\u0022440\u0022 height=\u0022260\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wnLFw2INLoU?wmode=transparent\u0026amp;start=0\u0022 frameborder=\u00220\u0022 allowfullscreen=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cfigcaption\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022caption\u0022\u003EThe Improv AI performance on April 15, 2025, featured dancer Bekah Crosby responding to AI-generated music from brain waves.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EWhat Will the Course Prepare Students to Do?\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe course prepares students to think like artists. Through abstraction and imagination they gain the confidence to tackle the engineering challenges of the 21st century. These include protecting the environment, building resilient cities and improving health.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStudents also realize that while AI has vast engineering and scientific applications, ethical implementation is crucial. Understanding the type and quality of training data that AI uses is essential. Without it, AI systems risk producing biased or flawed predictions.\u003C!-- Below is The Conversation\u0027s page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --\u003E\u003Cimg style=\u0022border-color:!important;border-style:none;box-shadow:none !important;margin:0 !important;max-height:1px !important;max-width:1px !important;min-height:1px !important;min-width:1px !important;opacity:0 !important;outline:none !important;padding:0 !important;\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/256673\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\u0022 alt=\u0022The Conversation\u0022 width=\u00221\u0022 height=\u00221\u0022 referrerpolicy=\u0022no-referrer-when-downgrade\u0022\u003E\u003C!-- End of code. If you don\u0027t see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis article is republished from \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe Conversation\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E under a Creative Commons license. Read the \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\/ai-and-art-collide-in-this-engineering-course-that-puts-human-creativity-first-256673\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003Eoriginal article\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"full_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2025-07-14 18:18:19","changed_gmt":"2025-07-24 18:07:14","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-07-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-07-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"677411":{"id":"677411","type":"image","title":"A Georgia Tech course links art and artificial intelligence","body":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA Georgia Tech course links art and artificial intelligence. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/photo\/from-the-real-world-to-the-digital-world-royalty-free-image\/1986731768?phrase=human%20hand%20ai\u0026amp;adppopup=true\u0022\u003EYuichiro Chino\/Moment via Getty Images\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","created":"1752517393","gmt_created":"2025-07-14 18:23:13","changed":"1752517393","gmt_changed":"2025-07-14 18:23:13","alt":"A Georgia Tech course links art and artificial intelligence","file":{"fid":"261307","name":"file-20250620-56-8drq8m.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/07\/14\/file-20250620-56-8drq8m.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/07\/14\/file-20250620-56-8drq8m.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":187871,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/07\/14\/file-20250620-56-8drq8m.jpg?itok=MUI4iloI"}}},"media_ids":["677411"],"groups":[{"id":"1237","name":"College of Engineering"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1253","name":"School of Civil and Envrionmental Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Ch5\u003EAuthor:\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/francesco-fedele-1449905\u0022\u003EFrancesco Fedele\u003C\/a\u003E, associate professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch5\u003EMedia Contact:\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShelley Wunder-Smith\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:shelley.wunder-smith@research.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eshelley.wunder-smith@research.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}