2026-09-19T04:59:56Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/1237592021-07-05T14:03:20Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131023
Iyad Rahwan.
Groh, Matthew(Matthew Robert)
Program in Media Arts and Sciences (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Program in Media Arts and Sciences (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
2020-02-10T21:42:24Z
2020-02-10T21:42:24Z
2019
2019
https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/123759
1139320405
Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2019
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 65-71).
In this hurtling technological age, the world seems more lost than ever before. When we optimize only for what can be observe, we can lose sight of the mysteries that help to define us. This thesis begins with the premise that not all aspects of humanity are amenable to empirical study. Inspired by a monoprint painted by Paul Klee and vividly described by Walter Benjamin, we design and deploy a four-part intervention at the intersection of artificial intelligence and media. First, we probe the tradition of via negativa. Second, we develop an artificial intelligence (AI) model that can disappear objects in photographs and deploy it online on a website called Deep Angel. Frorh August 2018 to April 2019, over 100,000 people visited Deep Angel. Third, we examine the precautionary principle for Al media manipulation with a randomized experiment. In this particular domain with this particular technology, we find that exposure to media manipulation improves individuals' ability to detect manipulations. Fourth, we create art. By infusing ancient wisdom traditions with modern technologies, this thesis points to a path out of digital and material clutter towards a rehabilitation and recovery of what has been lost in this Internet age: presence.
by Matthew Groh.
S.M.
S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences
71 pages
eng
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.
http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Program in Media Arts and Sciences
The aesthetics of absence : awareness in the age of neural networks
Awareness in the age of neural networks
Thesis
application/pdf
2020-02-10T21:42:24Z
Publication
Master
Media
unknown
unknown
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<Abstract>In this hurtling technological age, the world seems more lost than ever before. When we optimize only for what can be observe, we can lose sight of the mysteries that help to define us. This thesis begins with the premise that not all aspects of humanity are amenable to empirical study. Inspired by a monoprint painted by Paul Klee and vividly described by Walter Benjamin, we design and deploy a four-part intervention at the intersection of artificial intelligence and media. First, we probe the tradition of via negativa. Second, we develop an artificial intelligence (AI) model that can disappear objects in photographs and deploy it online on a website called Deep Angel. Frorh August 2018 to April 2019, over 100,000 people visited Deep Angel. Third, we examine the precautionary principle for Al media manipulation with a randomized experiment. In this particular domain with this particular technology, we find that exposure to media manipulation improves individuals' ability to detect manipulations. Fourth, we create art. By infusing ancient wisdom traditions with modern technologies, this thesis points to a path out of digital and material clutter towards a rehabilitation and recovery of what has been lost in this Internet age: presence.</Abstract>
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