AI and the Arts: Dramatic Changes and Impacts

Since the launch of ChatGPT and DALL-E, the world has seen an explosion of interest in generative AI. Fascination and fear of the fast-evolving technology has inspired much speculation and debate on what the future of art and art-making will look like. ASSC's Webinar “AI and the Arts: Dramatic Changes and Impacts," will be held on March 27, 2023 at 5 p.m. PT, in collaboration with the Asia Society Hong Kong to examine AI's capabilities across the arts' spectrum.

Vanguards of the fast-growing field on this panel will include award-winning author, translator, creative producer, and curator Chen Qiufan (a.k.a. Stanley Chan); producer/curator, artist, postdoctoral researcher at School of Creative Media – City University of Hong Kong Lisa SoYoung Park; and Dr. Hung Hin Shiu Endowed Professor in Music and Founding Dean of the School of Creative Arts at Hong Kong Baptist University Johnny Poon. The discussion will be moderated by Asia Society Southern California Advisory Council Member Bruce Daly. They will discuss how AI augments artistic efforts, what happens when AI produces art that surpass the human imagination, and what other impacts might we expect to see in the near and long-term. 

Speakers:

Chen Qiufan (a.k.a. Stanley Chan) is an award-winning Chinese speculative fiction author, translator, creative producer, and curator. He is honorary president of the Chinese Science Fiction Writers Association, and has a seat on the Xprize Foundation Science Fiction Advisory Council. His works include the novel Waste Tide and, co-authored with Kai-Fu Lee, the book AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future (Best Book of 2021 on Amazon, the Financial Times, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal). He currently lives in Shanghai and is the founder of Thema Mundi Studio.

Lisa SoYoung Park is a Hong Kong-based media artist, scholar, producer/curator, and educator, who works with art and technologies with critical focus on cultural elements at play. Her interdisciplinary approach to art-tech-culture triad focuses on examining cultural underpinnings of traditionally “Othered” world views that manifest in artistic practice, which then leads to curatorial endeavors geared toward discursively expanding the mainstream media art-world towards enhanced ontological pluralism.

Park published in Leonardo journal, Technoetic Arts journal, International Symposium of Electronic Arts (ISEA), Consciousness Reframed (China), and RIXC Open Fields (Latvia). Park's research was presented in Ars Electronica Garden Hong Kong symposium on Post-human Art (2021), Art Centre Nabi's East-meets-East conference at Korean Cultural Centre in London (2022), Open Systems PhD Salon at Art Machines: International Symposium on Machine Learning and Art (2020), and New Vision Arts Festival at the Asia Society HK (2021), amongst others. She has a BFA (Visual Arts) from York University (2006), and an MFA (2015) and PhD (2022) in Creative Media, from City University of HK. 

Johnny M. Poon is the Associate Vice-President (Interdisciplinary Research) at Hong Kong Baptist University. He is serving concurrently as the Founding Dean of the School of Creative Arts, and is the inaugural Dr. Hung Hin Shiu Endowed Professor in Music.

Since 2018, he has also taken on a leadership role as convenor of the Creative Media/Practice Research Cluster, spearheading the development of one of the strategic research foci at the university; and he is also the anchor person of the Faculty Niche Research Area Subgroup in Performance Studies.

Poon has maintained a highly successful and distinguished professional career as a conductor, appearing regularly in concert halls and festivals across the globe including Isaac Stern Auditorium, Zankel Hall and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall; Glinka Cappella Hall, Novgorod Philharmonic Hall, and Gnessin Institute of Arts in Russia; National Centre for the Performing Arts and the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, China; Operafestival di Roma in Italy, Harlaxton International Music Festival, Manhattan-Hong Kong Music Festival, and Hong Kong Arts Festival. He has conducted such ensembles as Moscow State Philharmonic Orchestra, St. Petersburg State Capella Orchestra, Sudestdeutsche Philharmonie, Kammarkoren Svenska Roster, Kammerchor Stuttgart, Slezske Divadlo Opava, Opera Hong Kong, Sinfonica dell’ international Chamber Ensemble, New England Symphonic Ensemble, Taiwan Baroque Camerata, Beijing Central Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, Tsinghua University Philharmonic, Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra, Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra, Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. He is presently Music Director of HKBU Symphony Orchestra; Founder and Music Director of Collegium Musicum Hong Kong.

Moderator:

Bruce B. Daly was a Principal with Deloitte & Touche’s Enterprise Risk Services group both in Tokyo and Los Angeles and was with the company for over two decades. Formerly, one of Deloitte’s national leaders both in Japan and the U.S., his roles ranged from launching the innovative Digital Risk Management practice to leading the Risk & Financial Advisory practice for the Los Angeles office. Daly currently serves as Chair for the American Red Cross – Los Angeles Region.  Daly has also served on the Board of Directors for the National Health Information (Cyber) Sharing & Analysis Center and is a former corporate officer with SoftAware Networks (now part of Cable & Wireless). He earned his B.A. degree from UC Santa Cruz and an MBA from UC Irvine. He has also been credentialed as a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP), and Certified in Risk Management Assurance (CRMA). Daly has lived and worked in Japan and Asia for over a decade.

In partnership with:

Asia Society Hong Kong