“AI Uncovers New Details About Old Master Paintings” by Kate Corry, University College London
This digital news article details the newest capabilities of artificial intelligence in the world of art. Art historians are often tasked with analyzing artists and their masterpieces. This can become difficult when talking about masterpieces from centuries ago. Historians can use x-ray images to see behind the paint and tell more about the layering and what the canvas was previously used for, but it has always been hard to separate the images. Now, with the use of AI, researchers from Duke and the National Gallery have been able to separate these images and take a closer look. It’s often hard to see how technology this advanced could help in the world of art history, but it’s imperative to art restoration to be able to get the clearest picture possible of the art being examined.
This may not impact an average person’s everyday life, but art historians do tedious work and could use all the help of technology they can get. In addition, we as humans can learn a lot from art. For example, the altarpiece examined in this article is from a cathedral dating back to the 15th century. It was stolen by Nazi’s in the 1940’s and now is able to be examined by historians. The amount of information to be gained from that piece alone is astounding. If AI was made widely available to every field of history, just imagine the possibilities of what we could know today.