Bootcamp Art & AI

The focus of the online Bootcamp Art & AI is both a foundational and hands on approach towards artificial intelligence and how it can be used for artistic purposes. It will provide you with the necessary practical tools and knowlegde to start integrating AI into your own artistic and creative practice right away.

Program:
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Since the legendary Dartmouth Summer Research Project, which marked the official birth of the field of artificial intelligence in 1957, the development of AI has been a journey full of unexpected twists and turns. Recent breakthroughs due to highly improved computational power and optimalisation of algorithms have seen numerous unprecedented and groundbreaking applications. It is an evolution which is poised to have an everlasting impact on practically all artistic disciplines.

This bootcamp is intended for artists and creative minds alike. No previous knowledge is required. You also do not need to have coding experience to follow this bootcamp.

This bootcamp is organized into three sessions:
(All time zones are CET (Central European Time Zone))

Session 1: 2,5 hours on day 1 (17/01 : 19u00 - 21u30 CET)
Foundations of AI
- Origins of AI and Art and AI
- Subfields in AI
- Limitations of AI
- Learning strategies
- AI and data
- Fundamental principles of (artificial) neural networks (ANN) and Deep Learning

Session 2: hours on day 2 (18/01: 13u00 - 18u00 CET)
Key concepts in AI & Art
- ANN's and Deep Learning in artistic context
- Understanding the mechanisms behind generative AI
- Design of use problem
- Data management
- Choice/design of AI algorithms/model
Practice Session 1: AI applications in music and sound (art)
- Introduction into MaxMSP
- Introduction into AI libraries in MaxMSP
- Elaboration of practical examples of using AI in MaxMSP for electronic music
- General strategies how to use (open source) AI models and techniques for electronic music composition and sound installations

Session 3: hours on day 3 (19/01: 13u00 - 18u00 CET)
Implications of AI for the arts
- Authorship, copyright and AI
- Future of (human) creativity
- Building responsible AI systems for artistic practices
Practice Session 2: AI applications in visual and multimedia art
- Introduction into Python and google Collab
- Practical example using Keras Python library
- Principles of latent diffusion image and video generating AI models
- Basic principles of prompt engineering
- Practical examples of working with Stable Diffusion
- Installing and using open source image generation models e.g. Stable Diffusion

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Requirements:
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Laptop and an internet connection. This bootcamp does not require any previous coding or sceintific knowledge. All techniques and principles will be explained from the start.

Planning of the bootcamp:
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12,5 hours in total. This 3 day bootcamp runs from 17/01 till 19/01. On 17/01 from 19u00 till 21u30 CET, and on 18/01 and 19/01 from 13u00 till 18u00 CET.

Cost of this bootcamp:
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-Early bird: 195 € (runs till 25/12/2024)
-Regular ticket: 250 € (after 25/12/2024)
-Student ticket (*): 175 €
Maximum number of participants:
A maximum off 10 participants can join this bootcamp.
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(*) For a student ticket please contact us via info@valeryvermeulen.net

Info and tickets for this bootcamp:
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Get more info and tickets for this bootcamp via
**https://bootcampartai.eventbrite.be**

About the teacher of this bootcamp
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Teacher of this bootcamp is Valery Vermeulen. He's a Belgian electronic musician, mathematician, visiting professor at the Music Production department of the KASK-Conservatorium School of Art in Gent, guest lecturer the Master Artscience KABK Den Hague and researcher at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Antwerp University (BE). He holds a Phd in pure mathematics from Ghent University (BE) as well as a masters degree in Music Composition at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent (BE). Apart from his artistic and teaching activities Vermeulen has been working professionally as a data scientist/statistician and AI/ML engineer since 2005.

In his work Valery focuses on he intersection between electronic music, data sonification, AI, data visulaisation and theoretical physics. His work internationally in news outlets such as BB6 (UK), Music Radar (US), Tech Radar (US), The Wire (UK), Electronic Sound Magazine (UK), New Scientist (NL), Neural Magazine (IT), DJ Mag (US), Mixmag (UK, Asia and Korea), Trax Magazine (FR), Deutschland Funk (DE), Radio Eins (DE), Radio Canada (CA), Yle Radio1 (FI), The Wire UK on Air (UK), VRT Radio1 (BE), VRT Radio2 (BE) and VRT Max (BE) to name but a few.

With his project Mikromedas AdS/CFT 001, merging electronic music and black hole astrophysics, Vermeulen received an Honory Mention from the prestigious S+T+Arts Prize Ars Electronica, a yearly prize for artscience projects issued on behalf of the European Commission.
More info on his background can be found via www.valeryvermeulen.net.
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Enrollment additional info:
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-If you would like to have more info on the bootcamp please send an email to info@valeryvermeulen.net.