Love Tweet Love! Smart AI learns about romance at Leicester's ART-AI Festival

Shoppers at Leicester’s Highcross shopping centre are seeing love messages being displayed on screen – all written by a computer which is “learning” about love from Twitter.



@Apparatus_Love is an art installation created by Dr Fabrizio Poltronieri of De Montfort University Leicester (DMU)’s Institute of Creative Technologies. He has programmed quotes about love, poetry and novels into the machine.

And anyone who tweets using the hashtag #LoveLeics will find their words added to this mass of information, which it then uses to create its own sayings about love. These messages are then displayed on the screen as shoppers walk past.

The installation will be on display at Highcross throughout Leicester’s first ART-AI Festival which celebrates artificial intelligence and how artists are using AI in their work, supported by #DMUlocal. A robot comedy improv show, films and children’s art workshops are part of the festival.



Dr Fab (pictured above before a BBC interview about the project) said: “It uses a Deep Learning algorithm, a technique called neuro networking – it tries to emulate the way our brains work.  

“I collected poetry, novels, quotes and the system then finds patterns to come up with loving language. It learns from this data. If you watch the screen at Highcross, sometimes it will come up with perfect sentences, and sometimes not!
“I hope this will start a discussion about AI, how it works and de-mystify it. And of course it is fun for people to see and I hope they see a love sentence that makes them smile.”

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The @Apparatus_Love can be found on the ground floor of Highcross, close to Paperchase. It will be in place until the festival ends on May 13 but Dr Fab hopes to continue the project at DMU.

Shoppers yesterday said they loved the idea. Sarah Hardy, 34, of Evington, said: “I wondered what it was – that’s such a lovely idea. I think I’ll tweet it a song lyric and see if it appears!”

ART-AI Festival has been produced by Professor Tracy Harwood, of De Montfort University Leicester (DMU)’s Institute of Creative Technologies, working with partners Highcross, Phoenix and artist/curator Luba Elliott, who has also advised the World Economic Forum on the subject.

ART-AI Festival will run until 13 May at Phoenix Cinema Leicester and Highcross Leicester and most of the events will be free and interactive. To send your message to @Apparatus_Love use the hashtag #LoveLeics