Ganimal
A ganimal, also commonly referred to as GANimal, is a hybrid animal created with generative artificial intelligence systems, such as generative adversarial networks (GANs) or diffusion models.[2][3][4] The concept was created for a website from the MIT Media Lab in 2020, where users could create ganimal images.[5] 78,210 ganimals were generated from hybrid pairs of animal labels from BigGAN (G1) and 3,058,362,945 ganimals generated from blending G1 ganimals.[3]
The term ganimal is a portmanteau between the words GAN and animal. It is typically used to refer to a hybrid animal generated by interpolating between distinct species; the term can also refer to any AI-generated creatures that have not been identified in reality.
The ganimal concept is similar to Artbreeder, an online website for blending images with AI.
Meet the Ganimals[edit]
Meet the Ganimals was an online platform from the MIT Media Lab that allowed visitors to generate, blend and curate ganimals.[6] By June 2020, 44,791 ganimals had been generated, 8,547 ganimals bred, and 743 ganimals named by a total of 10,657 users.[7] The site also had an educational component where visitors could play with blending and learn about AI.[8]
Evolution and ganimal morphology[edit]
Because ganimals exist within an attention economy[9] and evolve based on human preferences, charismatic megafauna (e.g. ganimals with cute, dog-like morphologies) become the most popular.[7][10] However, social cues can increase the diversity of the ganimals ecosystem and lead to the success of unconventional ganimals, such as those without eyes or that live underwater.[7]
The Barracuda Effect[edit]
Although there is typically no human morphology used to synthesize ganimals, creepy humanoid characters would emerge whenever animals were bred with a barracuda.[11] This occurs because many pictures on the internet of barracudas include a human holding the fish up as a prized catch. This highlights a cultural form of algorithmic bias embedded in the training data of AI systems.
In popular culture[edit]
Ganimals have appeared in the Artificial Intelligence exhibition at the Vienna Technical Museum.[12] They also appeared in the Ties That Cannot Be Unbound virtual exhibition at New Art City.[13][14]
References[edit]
- ^ "Baby Oagen". Archived from the original on April 14, 2021.
- ^ Merritt, Rick (28 October 2019). "AI's Latest Adventure Turns Pets into GANimals".
- ^ a b Epstein, Ziv; Boulais, Océane; Gordon, Skylar; Groh, Matthew (2020). "Interpolating GANs to Scaffold Autotelic Creativity". International Conference on Computational Creativity. Casual Creators Workshop. 2827. arXiv:2007.11119.
- ^ "Meet me at the Ganimal Crossing".
- ^ "Project Overview ‹ Meet the Ganimals". MIT Media Lab. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ "Meet the Ganimals". Meet the Ganimals. Archived from the original on May 29, 2023.
- ^ a b c Epstein, Ziv; Groh, Matthew; Abhimanyu, Dubey; Pentland, Alex (2021). "Social influence leads to the formation of diverse local trends". CSCW. 5: 1–18. arXiv:2108.07437. doi:10.1145/3479553. S2CID 237142390.
- ^ "Meet the Ganimals Educational Hub". ganimals.media.mit.edu. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
- ^ Meet the Ganimals, retrieved 2023-10-06
- ^ "The Plainspoken Scientist: Meet the Ganimals". 28 May 2020.
- ^ "The Barracuda Effect". Archived from the original on March 25, 2022.
- ^ "Pressedetail | Technisches Museum Wien". www.technischesmuseum.at. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
- ^ admin (2023-04-06). "Ties That Cannot Be Unbound – An Immersive Virtual Exhibition on Interconnectedness by Underground Art And Design | ABNewswire" (Press release). Retrieved 2023-10-06.
- ^ "Organisms & Artefacts, by Underground Art And Design". New Art City • Virtual Art Space. Retrieved 2023-10-06.