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After COVID-19 and Ukraine took the top spots in global news, the AI trend came into focus. Share prices of IT companies skyrocketed. Nvidia, a manufacturer of AI chips, saw its value grow by three and a half times to an unprecedented $1.2 trillion.

This begs the question– what’s happening?

The answer is rooted in people’s desire for both bread and circuses. People seek entertainment to reduce the need for labor and increase fun, even in their work. This indirectly aligns with other statistical trends. For instance, the most popular search terms on Google include YouTube – an endless source of fun.

Consequences of today’s AI trend

The promise of artificial intelligence, more precisely labeled as ‘trained neural networks’, is twofold: to relieve us of routine and offer new and unprecedented avenues for entertainment. The exciting potential of neural networks sometimes overshadow concerns about artificial intelligence, namely surrounding its ambiguity.

After all, the adoption of any technology might carry unintended consequences. It’s akin to occasional debates about whether COVID vaccines did more harm than good due to its side effects.

Could artificial intelligence become Pandora’s Box? In other words, do we know how to handle the unknown consequences of its use? What happens to the AI art trend if neural networks can learn to create artworks?

I suggest we assess this issue using the work of the great Marcel Duchamp. Specifically, the rendering of ready-made objects as cultural artifacts. Ultimately, artificial intelligence is a technology, just as technology is an industrial practice in creating ready-made objects.

AI trend forecast

Another challenge is that various AI applications are further encroaching into more creative realms of human activity. AI script writers or artist avatars raise questions (or even protests) about how to deal with this trend. It’s difficult to provide a clear answer at this early stage, but there are some interesting points to consider.

For instance, the commonly searched Johnny Depp is a talented actor beloved by millions, and it’s unlikely that a neural network can replicate his creative personality. However, it’s even more challenging to expect artificial intelligence to generate the dramas and scandals that often come with famous people.

A section of the mathematics used in neural networks is vector algebra. In simple terms, neural networks need direction for their development. Scandals and dramas involving celebrities are more appealing when they’re unusual for the average person. It’s mathematically challenging to imitate an original scandal. Perhaps, in the future, this will become one of the criteria distinguishing a real artist or any celebrity from one generated by a neural network. We can anticipate interesting and dramatic events associated with this. The regularly high-searched queries of Walmart and Amazon indicate that there will be enough popcorn in stock for this circus.