Eads breaks down the image in a different program, so that it can be deciphered by a CNC machine. He threads the large spools into the robotic arm and presses go.
After a few hours of automated work — stopping many times for re-loads of different colors of yarn — the rug is complete.
The final work, called “DALL-E 2023-04-23,” is credited to Tuft the World. This is not a piece by Riley or Eads.
“Using AI really takes that human element out of it,” Eads said. “I’m really fascinated by that.”
Alexander, Eads’ wife, business partner and artistic collaborator, insists Eads is indeed entitled to claim the work. Although it may not have been made by his hand or originated in his mind, it came into the world through Eads’ artistic decisions.
“He’s the conductor,” Alexander said. “There’s tons of choices that went into that, but he didn’t draw it. It’s the element that the AI pulls from the world to create part of the work. I think it’s a collaboration.”
Alexander and Eads has made its CDC machine available for artists to explore the possibilities of automated tufting. Tuft the World’s collaboration with Pittsburgh-based artist Crystal Latimer is currently on display at the Paradigm Gallery in Old City.
The exhibition “Fine House” features Latimer’s highly decorative and precisely rendered paintings resembling tapestries, featuring motifs of animals and flowers. Some of her paintings were translated into rugs by Tuft the World, and into patterned wallpaper by Paradigm’s in-house digital printer Butterfield Editions.
The exhibition also features a series of more than a dozen rugs generated by Tuft the World’s AI system.