Welcome to My AI Surrealist World | David Szauder | TED

I want to invite you to a foreign land. [Chapter one: Tango] A place where imaginary characters communicate to dress, to dance and movement. They are living in an ever-changing opera, with costumes, with backdrops and fun and laughter. I have been developing this idea [for] the last 17 years on the border of art and technology. It's a dance revue, a place called Szauderland. This is where I live. (Music) [Chapter two: Manipulative games] At the beginning, I almost became an art historian. That was the renaissance and the surrealism that made the greatest impression on me. I love the organic quality of the renaissance, and I love my wife and my daughter, but I feel most connected to surrealism.

Then came the machines and the programming. I explored the beautiful world of the robots. I tried many things. I created once a drawing robot to record the abstract imprint of the pandemic and an augmented reality deepfake Leonardo da Vinci machine, which even fooled a Leonardo expert. [Chapter three: AI] Until one morning, three years ago, I found an image online on the social media that froze me. I couldn't even figure out how it was made, but I was so captivated by its complexity. [Chapter four: Babel] When I started to work with AI, I tried all sorts of things.

Like a child unwrapping presents at Christmas and awaiting for the results. For me, working with AI is like cooking. There is always an idea stirring in my head. Right now you see the modern Babel. Then I start to collect patterns, capture photos. And when I have everything ready, I throw all the ingredients into the pot. And when it's boiling, which is the AI process itself, it often needs some seasoning because there is too much of one style or too little of one color. Then comes the post-production. That's my favorite part.

The plating. When I can clear all the details and I can give my personal signature. [Chapter five: Unknown familiar] So my work is always starting with an idea. Right now, you see my recent moving from one country to another country. Then I start to use artificial intelligence to create a kind of surreal world where I can feel comfortable. Then I start to populate it with my virtual Earthlings, which is obviously a very, very selfish thing because these characters are a bit like me. The one is trying to keep the balance. The one is hiding somewhere, but trying to observe closely. The one can wear any kind of dress on the street.

And the one can dance freely. [Chapter six: New Year’s swing] I make my virtual Earthlings dance because I love to dance. Dancing is good, although I never knew how to do that. And that frustrates me terribly. (Laughter) I even passed my slightly clumsy movements onto my character, you see. It will help one of us. Like in a therapy session. [Chapter seven: Art of Hiding] I found fashion always fascinating.

I see as a kind of costume, a uniform, what we put on every day. But in my land, in Szauderland, I created the freedom from that exactly. These characters there are wearing truly extraordinary clothes. Like a kind of luxury collection. Would you wear it too, I see it in your eyes. We can talk about it later. [Chapter eight: Doppelganger] My exploration with AI allowed me to build a new world. But this wasn't really AI [who] designed this place. I found it as a beautiful tool, but I feel sorry for its lack of humor, of beauty and joy. That's roughly the secret of Szauderland. An idea, a place filled with characters.

They won't let me go. I need to choreograph them out of myself. Then the show begins, my inner theater turns outward. But I'm happy to say that such a world can only come from a human person's imagination. Thank you very much. (Applause)