Alexa and the yellow sky of Rome, unattainable for an AI

The Echo Dot dedicated to Rome recalls a contemporary version of the classic boule de neige, those glass bottles with fake snow still present in souvenir shops.

Amazon 's spherical speaker, now in its fifth generation and equipped with the virtual assistant Alexa , pays homage to the most iconic symbols of the Capital.

In a very small space there is room for almost everything: from the dome of St. Peter's to the Pantheon, from the Colosseum to the Trevi Fountain. There are also tourists on scooters: a reference to the famous scene with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday .

There is the unmistakable signature of illustrator Ale Giorgini on the Echo Dot celebrating Rome, the first European limited edition of an Echo device.

Its special trait, capable of settling and adapting with surprising naturalness to the real world, is combined with the voice of Alexa, who for the occasion will be able to speak in Roman dialect - just ask her " Alexa, speak in Roman " - and will offer users, always upon request, a quiz on the eternal city (" Alexa, open the quiz on Rome ") and content dedicated to its iconic places (" Alexa, tell me the secrets of Rome ").

The Roman version of the Echo Dot costs slightly more than normal: 89.99 euros. But it must be said that Giorgini's art is worth the extra cost. For the first time, the Amazon device acquires a defined aesthetic personality, becomes a collector's item or in any case destined to last over time. A piece of design, in short . Which in the age of artificial intelligence has even more value, since it is the fruit of human work. Work that escapes the logic of algorithms. "I continue to forcefully reiterate the value of error, the value of the unexpected, of the mistake, of the badly drawn line", explains Giorgini passionately.

In the case of the Echo Dot for Amazon, was there a mistake that positively influenced your creative process?

“In this case, the entire drawing is, in fact, an optical aberration. I found myself working on a spherical surface with a completely two-dimensional style. Therefore, each element I drew is not exactly a mistake, but rather an unexpected way of representing reality. If, for example, you ask an artificial intelligence to draw the Colosseum, I doubt it would represent it like this. I needed to make the word “Rome” coincide with a precise point on the sphere, and at the same time respect a certain geometry that would allow me to continue the drawing coherently. In a certain sense, therefore, this drawing is a mistake. But my work is based precisely on error and imperfection. I do not have a traditional artistic education, I did not follow a course of study that directly led me to do what I do today”.

Tell us about it.

“They failed art education in middle school, so I went to another school, surveyor, hence the reason for the geometric lines. Then I became a graphic designer and art director, but my passion has always been drawing. So I tried to do it seriously. So my work is jazz: it's improvisation. I don't have the academic basis to do this thing, and maybe that's what gives my style its identity”.

Generative AI, in a certain sense, is also jazz: it starts from rules and structures, but produces unexpected, often surprising results, the result of unpredictable and free combinations like in a musical improvisation.

“Maybe, though, artificial intelligence lacks fun. I don’t think it has fun, I have a lot of fun.”

And what is AI missing to be able to draw Rome on a sphere like you did?

“The emotion of a sunset”

Please explain better.

“Amazon asked me: 'Draw all of Rome inside a sphere'. Very small, by the way. It was practically impossible. So I said to myself: 'I'll put my Rome there'. It's the city I see when I get off the train, usually in the afternoon because I come from the North, where the capital is wrapped in a yellow and orange sunset, the sky seems to explode. For me, Rome is that”.

But the sky of Rome is not so yellow.

“No, it’s not yellow, but for me it is. The sky is never yellow. Of course. Except in some cases. The sky is usually blue. The clouds are white. I made the clouds orange, and other colored things that in reality are not that color. And this is, perhaps, what artists today must aim for. Because if we play on mannerism, artificial intelligence wins.

If an artist competes with AI on realism, he has already lost.

“Absolutely. As far as I'm concerned, I'm absolutely behind the potential of artificial intelligence. But not in terms of emotions. AI lacks memory, it lacks the ability to say "I experienced this thing and I saw it like this". You will never be able to ask artificial intelligence with a prompt 'redraw me Rome as you saw it in October two years ago, together with your partner'. No, it will never be able to do it”.

Leonardo used a particular technique to give himself time to think. He avoided the fresco, which had to be completed quickly, and instead spread a layer of plaster and animal glue that gave him the opportunity to think longer, perhaps regret a choice. Perhaps this is also what differentiates us from AI, our ability to regret. Don't you think?

“I could stay on the same drawing for a lifetime, if I had the chance. But at a certain point you have to baptize it, close it, for professional reasons: there are timing, deadlines, deadlines to meet. I look at a work I finished a couple of months ago and think: 'On this section alone I would change at least ten things'. It's like this every time. Because drawing, for me, means constantly choosing. And every choice also involves the risk of an immediate change of heart. You find yourself saying: 'No, maybe I made a mistake here. Maybe I should redo everything'. In my way of working, the eraser counts more than the pencil”.

Have you ever tried asking an AI to draw "like Ale Giorgini would do", even just out of curiosity?

“Yes, I did.”

What came out?

“I tried it a year and a half ago and something vaguely related to my work came out. On the one hand, it reassured me, but on the other, it also disheartened me a bit. I asked myself: 'Why does it work perfectly if I ask them to imitate other illustrators, but not with me?' I was a little sad... maybe even out of a hint of envy”.

Have you ever been envious of an AI?

"Everyday"

And about what?

“Since I don’t really know how to draw, when I see what artificial intelligence can do, for me it’s like seeing Michelangelo at work. Then of course, there are purists who point out the mistake, the wrong color, the out of place light… but for me, reaching those levels is unthinkable. I’m constantly envious: of the anatomies, the colors, the atmospheres, the ability to reproduce reality with that precision”.

Is it something that keeps you awake at night?

“But no. I tell myself: like all crises, if we want to call them that, this too can be an opportunity to evolve, to find something new. If tomorrow AI were to prevent me from continuing to do what I do, it would mean that I would have to look for another path. A new way to express what I have inside, what I like. And that is, after all, what has already happened in my journey. At a certain point I said: 'I don't know how to draw, but I want to do it anyway.' I tried, and I found a language, a channel, that brought me to where I am today.”

But AI has certainly changed his job.

“I’ll tell you a funny thing that happened to me some time ago, just so I don’t always demonize the use of artificial intelligence. A client contacted me for a project and sent me a sketch generated with AI, saying: “This is exactly the idea, but I want you to realize it, with your style”. Well, for me it was a perfect example of how AI can become a useful tool, not an enemy. All those initial steps — the research of the concept, the construction of the idea, the choice of the subject — have already been roughed out. And this leaves you more time to live: go for an aperitif, spend time with the family... and then dedicate yourself only to the truly creative part. That is, reworking, reinterpreting, improving. In practice, refining and giving life to something that AI has only sketched out. For the way I work, it’s a huge advantage.