For about 20 years I've written and produced documentaries, one of the most rewarding ways of telling stories ever invented. It's a privilege to plunge into different cultures and eras and put together deeply human narratives that can be enjoyed by everyone. My clients include National Geographic, Discovery, PBS, and other broadcasters in the US and Europe. My long fascination with Artificial Intelligence came to a head in 2000, when I interviewed inventor Ray Kurzweil, roboticist Rodney Brooks, and sci-fi legend Arthur C. Clarke. Kurzweil and Brooks were casually optimistic about a future they considered inevitable - a time when we will share the planet with intelligent machines.

To many they are art's next big thing -- digital images of jellyfish pulsing and blurring in a dark pink sea, or dozens of butterflies fusing together into a single organism. The Argentine artist Sofia Crespo, who created the works with the help of artificial intelligence, is part of the "generative art" movement, where humans create rules for computers which then use algorithms to generate new forms, ideas and patterns. The field has begun to attract huge interest among art collectors -- and even bigger price tags at auction. US artist and programmer Robbie Barrat -- a prodigy still only 22 years old -- sold a work called "Nude Portrait#7Frame#64" at Sotheby's in March for £630,000 ($821,000). That came almost four years after French collective Obvious sold a work at Christie's titled "Edmond de Belamy" -- largely based on Barrat's code -- for $432,500.

To many they are art's next big thing--digital images of jellyfish pulsing and blurring in a dark pink sea, or dozens of butterflies fusing together into a single organism. The Argentine artist Sofia Crespo, who created the works with the help of artificial intelligence, is part of the "generative art" movement, where humans create rules for computers which then use algorithms to generate new forms, ideas and patterns. The field has begun to attract huge interest among art collectors--and even bigger price tags at auction. US artist and programmer Robbie Barrat--a prodigy still only 22 years old--sold a work called "Nude Portrait#7Frame#64" at Sotheby's in March for £630,000 ($821,000). That came almost four years after French collective Obvious sold a work at Christie's titled "Edmond de Belamy"--largely based on Barrat's code--for $432,500.

The Argentine artist Sofia Crespo, who created the works with the help of artificial intelligence, is part of the "generative art" movement, where humans create rules for computers which then use algorithms to generate new forms, ideas and patterns. The field has begun to attract huge interest among art collectors -- and even bigger price tags at auction. US artist and programmer Robbie Barrat -- a prodigy still only 22 years old -- sold a work called "Nude Portrait#7Frame#64" at Sotheby's in March for £630,000 ($821,000). That came almost four years after French collective Obvious sold a work at Christie's titled "Edmond de Belamy" -- largely based on Barrat's code -- for $432,500. Collector Jason Bailey told AFP that generative art was "like a ballet between humans and machines".

To many they are art's next big thing -- digital images of jellyfish pulsing and blurring in a dark pink sea, or dozens of butterflies fusing together into a single organism. The Argentine artist Sofia Crespo, who created the works with the help of artificial intelligence, is part of the "generative art" movement, where humans create rules for computers which then use algorithms to generate new forms, ideas and patterns. The field has begun to attract huge interest among art collectors -- and even bigger price tags at auction. US artist and programmer Robbie Barrat -- a prodigy still only 22 years old -- sold a work called "Nude Portrait#7Frame#64" at Sotheby's in March for £630,000 ($821,000). That came almost four years after French collective Obvious sold a work at Christie's titled "Edmond de Belamy" -- largely based on Barrat's code -- for $432,500.

Artificial intelligence (AI) in fashion is no longer a secret and has widely been used to mostly help businesses to streamline processes and increase sales. But the skillsets of fashion designers and computer scientists are miles apart, so it's not until recently that the creative applications of AI in this industry have been explored. "Initial uses of artificial intelligence have focused on quantifiable business needs, which has allowed for start-ups to offer a service to brands," Matthew Drinkwater, head of the fashion innovation agency (FIA) at London College of Fashion (LCF), told Forbes. "Creativity is much more difficult to quantify and therefore more likely to follow behind." Seeing the opportunity for AI to play a bigger role in the creative process, LFC has launched an AI course aiming to develop creative fashion solutions and experiences that challenge the current approaches to fashion design.

In January, what had previously only been pixels made a real-world splash on the catwalks of Paris Fashion Week. The models' futuristic-looking clothes, designed in a collaboration between fashion house Acne Studios and artist and programmer Robbie Barrat, were designed by an artificial intelligence (AI). 'When you design a collection, you have an idea of what a jacket looks like, or a pair of trousers,' says Jonny Johansson, creative director of Acne Studios. 'The computer doesn't know what a jacket is. It tries to learn from the images we gave it, and then creates its own idea.

We discuss why James wrote this book 3 years ago now, how far away he really thinks we are from artificial human intelligence, the warning bells recently being sounded about artificial intelligence, and why he thinks there will not be another AI winter. Our guest today is James Barrat author of the book "Our final Invention" Artificial Intelligence and the end of the Human Era". It's good to be here. Kathleen Walch: [00:00:39] Great, I'd like to get started by having you introduce yourself to our listeners and to tell us a little bit about your book and also what additional things that you're doing in the field of AI and let's go from there. I got into artificial intelligence, or the study of artificial intelligence, and the critique of AI because I made a film about 17 years ago now about artificial intelligence. I interviewed Ray Kurzweil and Rodney Brooks and Arthur C. Clarke among others … and Ray Kurzweil of course who is now chief engineer at Google and the Google brain project.

Writer and filmmaker James Barrat, author of "Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era," discussed the prospect of artificial intelligence with students and members of the Durham community on Wednesday night in the Memorial Union Building Strafford Room. The event was organized by the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, the Society of Women Engineers and Tau Beta Pi. Students from each organization were present, yet there were numerous outliers as well. Junior psychology, philosophy and justice studies major Gordon Unzen found interest primarily in the ethics of artificial intelligence, with his philosophy classes has been a major drive for his attendance. "We typically delve into subjects like this debating the future of humanity," he said.

Machine learning can be a fantastic tool for creators, but integrating AI into your workflow is a challenge for those who can't code. A new program called Runway ML aims to make this process easier by providing artists, designers, filmmakers, and others with an "app store" of machine learning applications that can be activated with a few clicks. Say you're an animator on a budget who wants to turn a video of a human actor into a 3D model. Instead of hiring expensive motion capture equipment, you could use Runway to apply a neural network called "PosetNet" to your footage, creating wireframe models of your actor that can then be exported for animation. Or say you need to remove a coffee cup that was accidentally left in a shot on your high-budget fantasy TV drama.