Computer Programs Become Art Appreciators

We humans might think we have the edge over machines when it comes to art appreciation, but computer scientists are perfecting programs that have a discerning eye. To do this, Lawrence Technological University researchers Lior Shamir and Jane Tarakhovsky found a way to break down an individual painting into 4,027 "numerical image context descriptors." They performed this operation on 1,000 paintings by 34 famous artists. Then, Shamir and Tarakhovsky let the computer algorithm scrutinize all the paintings based on visual content alone, without input from a human. The program was able to identify differences between modern art and classical realism and identify specific subgroups of painters.