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www.us-tech.com


Tech-Op-ed April/May, 2024 SOUNDING OFF


By Michael Skinner Editor


appears to be limited only by one’s imagination. AI art has its roots in the mid-20th century, one prominent ex-


The Rise of AI Art A


ample being AARON, a system developed by Harold Cohen at the University of California at San Diego in the late 1960s. This system used a symbolic, rule-based approach to create images, first in black and white, and then later on in color. It was created based on a question by Cohen, “What are the min-


imum conditions under which a set of marks functions as an image?” Cohen used a succession of custom-built flatbed plotter devices that allowed AARON to produce physical artwork. More recently in 2014, AI art took a huge leap forward with the cre-


ation of the generative adversarial network (GAN), a type of deep neu- ral network that consists of a generator and a discriminator. The gener- ator creates new images, while the discriminator decides which of them are considered successful. This is unlike a machine like Cohen’s, be- cause instead of having to be hand-coded, GANs can learn specific types of artwork through analysis of a dataset of example images. This type of artwork apparently has value to consumers as well,


as a painting called “Edmond de Belamy,” created by Paris-based col- lective Obvious, was sold at Christie’s Auction House in New York for $432,500 — about 45 times higher than its estimated value. Now in the 2020s, text-to-image models have become popular.


These systems, which include DALL-E, Midjourney and others, gen- erate images based on prompts. This iterative process allows the user to, in a way, sculpt images that fit with their inspiration. All of this has built to what is now being called “Synthetic Me-


dia,” with synthography being the term used to describe creating im- ages that are similar to photographs with AI. This is where the trou- ble begins for most people, as it is becoming difficult to tell AI-gener- ated images apart from real ones. This raises a host of ethical ques- tions about the use of likenesses, such as celebrities, used in images that appear to be photographs. It also raises questions around copyright and intellectual proper-


ty as AI systems are able to create images in the style of a particular artist that might be indistinguishable from the genuine article. In January of 2023, three artists filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Stability AI, Midjourney and DeviantArt, claiming that train- ing neural networks on their artwork without consent is illegal. There are also questions around AI image generators replacing


artists. In fact, leaders of companies like Open AI and Stability AI have openly stated that they expect generative AI systems to replace creatives imminently. Reportedly, studios around the world have seen a large drop in illustrator jobs, in part due to the widespread use of image generators. We should be careful not to think of AI art generators as “cre-


ative,” but that begs a question asked by Harold Cohen about his ma- chine, “If what AARON is making is not art, what is it exactly, and in what ways, other than its origin, does it differ from the ‘real thing?’ If it is not thinking, what exactly is it doing?” r


PUBLISHER’S NOTE


By Jacob Fattal Publisher


light of each year, and this year is no exception. In this issue, in addition to the usual spread of EMS profiles and


Picking Up Speed T


technical special feature articles, we are showcasing more than 60 products and services from APEX. These cover a range of topics, in- cluding capital equipment, consumables, software and more. Coming up we’ll also be covering EWPTE and EDS, SMTcon-


nect/PCIM in June and SEMICON West in July. These major shows all have an impact on the industry. SMTconnect is again co-located with PCIM Europe, a sprawling event focused on power electronics. Formerly known as SMT Hybrid Packaging until 2018, SMTconnect is held in Nuremberg, Germany. Last year’s event attracted more than 8,000 visitors and over 200 exhibitors. Under the motto “Driving Manufacturing Forward,” SMTconnect


will focus on five key areas of electronics manufacturing, including system development and production preparation, materials and com- ponents, processes and manufacturing, reliability and testing, and software and production control. If your company will be exhibiting at SMTconnect, please send


us a press release to be published in our next issue. It’s a great time to be a part of the electronics industry. With


massive investment in automotive electronics, robotics and automa- tion, and AI, comes a greater need to re- port the news as it develops. You can count on U.S. Tech to be there each step of the way. Hope to see you at an event soon! r


I art is here and it’s here to stay. From the rise of so-called deepfakes to AI-generated artworks and even videos and mu- sic, the fusion of artificial intelligence and human creativity


his edition is a special one. In it we cover IPC APEX 2024, which is a staple of our annual trade show circuit. The largest SMT trade show in North America, APEX has long been a high-


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