Is Google Bard an art connoisseur? We test it
“Yesterday I played a game and asked Bard to describe the painting ‘the parable of the blind’ by Breughel to me. Even after I provided the link to the wikipedia article, I felt Bard wasn’t accurate enough,” says AW reader Katty. Katty has some visual challenges and therefore benefits from a good explanation of what can be seen in a painting. The mission she gave us? Testing whether Bard gives us better results. Mission accepted: we decided to chat about art with Bard.
Discuss art with Bard
The art of talking about art is that you have to know the artwork in question well, or at least have it in front of you as a picture, in order to think of what Google does not describe. According to Katty, Bard sometimes failed to give a good description of a work of art, or, for example, failed to name a church that is clearly visible in the painting. Is Google Bard a good tool for people who want to learn more about art, whether or not they have a visual impairment? We take the test with our friend Bard.
The Scream
We asked: describe to someone who is blind what the painting The Scream looks like
Bards Answer: The painting “The Scream” by Edvard Munch is one of the most famous paintings in the world. It is an iconic image of fear and despair. The painting depicts a figure with an outstretched mouth, who seems to be uttering a scream. The figure stands on a bridge over a fjord, with a red sky in the background. The painting is done in an expressionist style, meaning it uses distorted shapes and colors to express emotions. “The Scream” is a powerful and poignant painting that leaves a deep impression on the viewer.
If you are blind, you can still experience “The Scream” by running your fingers across the canvas. You can feel the different shapes and colors and you can feel the emotions that Munch was trying to convey. You can also listen to the audio description of the painting, which will give you more information about the history and significance of the work.
“The Scream” is a painting that everyone can experience, whether you are blind or not. It’s a powerful expression of human emotions, and it’s a painting you’ll never forget.
Our verdict: we miss the description of that figure: what does he look like? What color is he wearing? In any case, apart from the red sky, Bard ignores the colors and that makes it very difficult to imagine. There are also other males in the background, they are not mentioned either. The fence does not even get a mention, while it is also quite present. An extra point for the information that you can feel De Schreeuw as a blind person, although we wonder whether they will also be happy with that at the Nasjonalgalleriet in Oslo.
Radiant Baby
Bard is also shown to be somewhat shy when it comes to sex. For example, he says that he is ‘just a language model’ and can’t help when we ask him to describe what can be seen in Keith Haring’s painting Safe Sex. Radiant Baby on the other hand…
We ask: Describe to someone who is blind what Keith Haring’s painting Radiant Baby looks like
Keith Haring’s painting Radiant Baby is a simple yet powerful image of a naked child with a large, white circle around his head. The child stands with his arms wide open and his eyes closed. It is a symbol of hope, joy and innocence.
The painting was created in Haring’s signature style, which is characterized by its simple, geometric shapes and use of primary colours. The background of the painting is black, which makes the child stand out even more.
Radiant Baby is one of Haring’s most famous works. It is a popular symbol of hope and joy, and has been used in a variety of contexts from protests to advertising campaigns.
If you are blind, you can still experience the Radiant Baby painting. You can feel the shapes of the child, see the colors and feel the energy of the painting. You can also experience the painting by hearing the stories told about it. Radiant Baby is a painting that inspires people of all ages and from all walks of life. It is a painting that radiates hope, joy and innocence.
Our verdict: sorry, very sorry. Radiant Baby definitely doesn’t have a black background, but blue. In fact, if there’s an artist who rarely opted for a black background, it’s Haring. He is known for his colorful, pencil-like drawings of -often- dolls. Now he has also done Radiant Baby in other colorways, but the most famous one has a blue background. It gets even crazier, though, because Radiant Baby is more of a crawling baby than an outstretched baby (which is pretty strange anyway, isn’t it?). It seems that Bard envisions a completely different painting here. We would like to give a point again for the ‘feeling’, but that story about feeling the energy of a painting, that fits more in an average B&B Full of Love episode than in a description for the blind.
The Sunflowers
Then ask something Dutch that is extremely well known, and in our opinion fairly easy to describe:
We ask: describe to someone who is blind what Van Gogh’s sunflowers look like
Van Gogh’s Sunflowers are a series of paintings of a vase of sunflowers. The paintings were made in 1888 in Arles, France. The sunflowers are painted in a vibrant, expressive style. The colors are bright and contrasty. The brush strokes are thick and spongy. The sunflowers are painted in a vase on a dark background. The vase is simple and functional. The background is dark and neutral. The sunflowers are the eye-catcher of the painting. They are painted in a wide variety of shades of yellow, orange and brown. The sunflowers are in different stages of bloom. Some sunflowers are still in bud, others are fully open. The sunflowers are painted in a chaotic, but harmonious composition. The sunflowers seem to move and dance. The sunflowers are a symbol of hope, joy and life force. They are a reminder of the beauty of nature and the power of art.
If you are blind, you can still experience Van Gogh’s sunflowers. You can feel the shape of the flowers, the texture of the leaves and the warmth of the colors. You can feel the energy of the flowers and the joy they radiate. You can also experience the sunflowers by hearing the stories that are told about them. Van Gogh’s sunflowers are an inspiration to people of all ages and from all walks of life. They are a symbol of hope, joy and vitality.
Our verdict: we’re starting to worry about Bard’s aura, just to stay in the vague. Is the AI talking about a dark background again, while it is bright blue or yellow everywhere? There is one with a somewhat darker background, but it is not well known at all. We don’t necessarily think the flowers look very lively either: more than half are already hanging a bit, so that hope and vitality are also hard to find. But: here the AI can give a general description of sunflowers, because that’s what the flowers are in real life: cheerleaders. Bard’s story of how this painting is an inspiration to people of all ages and all walks of life is also a bit odd. Plus: what good is it to a blind person who wants to know what the painting looks like? And, if we are being a bit critical: the somewhat less prosperous layers of the population can’t do much with it, they don’t have 20 euros to go to the Van Gogh museum. By the way, if you read the description of the most famous sunflower painting (which is also really called The Sunflowers) at the Van Gogh museum, you really notice how much Bard misses the mark.
Should we ask the questions differently? We already specify that it is a blind man, we even ask for a detailed description, but Bard simply does not use the correct information to do the description, which immediately leads him in such a wrong direction that it seems impossible to correct him.
What do you think, will you manage to find a way to properly describe a painting to Katty, or other people who want to learn more about art? Leave it now in the comments. And thank you Katty, for this fun mission!
