Deep Learning Series 03: Anna Ridler & Sofia Crespo—The Natural History of Machine Learning

In this episode, host Peter Bauman (Le Random's editor in chief) speaks with pioneering artist duo Anna Ridler and Sofia Crespo about their long-running collaboration bringing machine learning into dialogue with natural history.


Part of our special series on the development of deep learning, the artists trace their early encounters with machine learning and AI—from memes, browser histories, and speech-to-text to data visualization, encyclopedias, and NeurIPS Creativity Workshops. They also cover how both arrived at AI through questions of classification and what it means to “understand” the world.


They also discuss fusing natural history and machine learning across their five collaborative projects (including Anna Atkins–inspired cyanotypes, Argentine “artificial memories” and the rain-marked Clematis tiles), working only with their own datasets in the middle of AI copyright debates, rethinking collage and photography in an era of generative models, and what might come next after winning Arab Bank Switzerland’s Artist of the Year prize.


Monday's Editorial:
Holly Herndon & Mat Dryhurst on Artificial Psychedelia: https://www.lerandom.art/editorial/ho...


Chapters 📖:
[00:00:03]: Introduction and episode overview


[00:02:23]: Anna’s path to deep learning


[00:03:32]: Sofia’s early AI explorations


[00:07:36]: Natural history and machine learning parallels


[00:10:30]: Posthuman ideas emerging in practice


[00:12:34]: NeurIPS Creativity Workshop beginnings


[00:13:34]: Artist versus technologist mindset


[00:15:44]: Sofia’s nontraditional art journey


[00:21:01]: Speaking to researchers during COVID


[00:22:05]: Meeting and first encounters


[00:26:11]: First Collaboration: Various and Casual Occursions


[00:34:52]: Second project: 83 Seeds from a Vanishing Mountain


[00:38:06]: Third project: Snapshots: Orchids


[00:42:46]: Fourth project: Long Short Term Memories


[00:47:15]: Fifth project: 3.31424e+126 : clematis armandii


[00:52:05]: Looking ahead together


[00:53:41]: Closing thanks and goodbyes