Journey through the Layers of the Mind by Memo Akten

AI art pioneer Akten utilized Google’s DeepDream algorithm, exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence and human perception. By running a neural network trained on over 20,000 image categories backwards, DeepDream generated surreal images that amplified the neural activation patterns triggered by the input. The resulting visuals, demonstrate AI’s signature dream-like aesthetic, while reflecting AI’s attempts at pattern recognition, much like Rorschach (inkblot) tests for humans. Akten’s work investigates themes of confirmation bias and cognitive projection, highlighting how both artificial and biological systems seek and affirm meaning. His later work in this decade, including his Learning to See Series (2017) used GANs and custom software to make work with a strong conceptual foundation. It invites the viewer to understand how AI learns and works so that they may reflect on our such abilities. Akten stands out in the decade for his work demonstrating the creative potential of AI—machine learning, deep learning and GANs.