Displacement of Reality and Redefinition of Creativity

This event delves into the growing influence of AI-generated content in media and communication, where simulations often outweigh real events in shaping our perceptions. Drawing on Baudrillard’s concept of simulacra, the talk will explore how AI’s role in creative processes challenges traditional ideas of creativity and authorship. With AI now a key player in art-making, this AI performing presentation will raise important questions about the authenticity and value of art created by machines versus humans.

About the artist

Jed Gjerek (b. 1974, Croatia) is an art-based researcher whose work delves into the intersections of digital media, artificial intelligence (AI), and traditional art forms. Currently pursuing an MA in Creative Practice at Atlantic Technology University (ATU) in Galway City, Ireland, Jed’s artistic journey covers nearly three decades, evolving from classical training in painting, sculpting, and ceramics to the cutting edge of digital art. Jed graduated from ATU (Ireland) in Contemporary Art and from Art School Fisher (Croatia) in Drawing and Painting. He has extended experience in ceramics and is a traditional pottery of northwest Croatia expert awarded by the Ministry of Culture of Croatia. Jed has worked in art education for the last eleven years. Currently, he has a role as an art tutor in digital media and painting with the Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board (GRETB).

His recent research focuses on the transition from mimesis to simulacra, exploring how AI-generated content and digital media reshape our perception of reality. By integrating visual programming languages and AI algorithms in art practice, Jed researches how dynamic, sensor-driven experiences challenge the idea of an original or authentic source, culminating in the concept of hyperreality, where the boundaries between the real and the simulated dissolve, blurring the lines between life and non-life, human and non-human, and real and virtual.