Teaching a computer to appreciate art
A new computer program can identify images based on mathematical functions. Really a great start towards AI.
Teaching a computer to appreciate art
Project could eventually help distinguish forgeries from masterpieces
AP
By Bryn Nelson
Columnist, MSNBC
updated 6:25 a.m. PT, Mon., Feb. 25, 2008
Is that a van Gogh?
A mathematical program that began as a lark for an Israeli scientist has become a serious effort to match some of the world’s greatest painters with their masterpieces. If the project pans out, it could help point out poor copies and eventually distinguish forgeries from the real deal.
Daniel Keren, a professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Haifa, said he’s been contacted by an Italian collector hoping to validate some of his acquired paintings as well as by aficionados embroiled in a controversy over the legitimacy of artworks allegedly by Dutch master Vincent van Gogh.
“I did it for fun, but now people are interested in it, so I will definitely expand,” Keren said.
Research in the rapidly growing field of computer vision, he said, still has plenty of catching up to do if scientists want computers to approximate our own abilities. One stumbling block has been teaching machines how to spot objects that are simple for people to recognize — another human face, for example.
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