Diana Akhmedova
Artificial Connection, 2023
Acrylic Paint and Pastel on Canvas

When one thinks of artificial intelligence or AI, applications like ChatGPT and Midjourney often come to mind. While those applications are AI, I wanted to focus on the popular notion of creating robots or humanoids programmed with machine learning and self-awareness. This painting explores the relationship between humans and artificial intelligence, and how one can form a connection with an AI. Would those connections ever be considered real or genuine? Would it ever be possible to form a close bond with a robot — something that is simply a program executing code? These are some of the questions I asked myself when creating this piece.

As a computer science major, I was always interested in human-looking robots simulating emotions, with realistic facial expressions and efficient movement. Some of my greatest inspirations include Atlas by Boston Dynamics and Ameca by Engineered Arts. Boston Dynamics focuses on the aspect of mobility by creating robots that can walk, run, jump, and navigate the space around them. On the other hand, Engineered Arts delves into making realistic facial expressions by using actuators, as well as giving their robots a human feel by integrating common human-like movements. I truly wonder what could be possible if Boston Dynamics and Engineered Arts combined their discoveries into a new humanoid robot. One day, I hope to see this dream become reality.