Already Entangled
I have been developing apps, that use generative AI to generate short texts shaped as a short story that is then rendered as an image; I call them Fabulation Engines
I have been using Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) as engines of fabulation due to their inherent capacity to craft narratives, generate ideas, and weave together complex tapestries of information and imagination.
Creative Synthesis
Generative AI and LLMs synthesize information from extensive databases of text. By scanning and analyzing these vast resources, they can generate responses and ideas that are not merely regurgitations of existing data but creative amalgamations and reconfigurations of it. They are capable of taking existing narrative structures, themes, and concepts and recombining them in novel and unexpected ways.
Autonomous Imagination
While they operate within the parameters set by programmers and designers, these AI models have a degree of autonomy in how they generate content. They can 'imagine' scenarios, characters, and narratives that haven't been explicitly fed into their databases, drawing instead from the patterns and structures they've learned during their training. This ability allows them to function as partners in the creative process, contributing ideas and perspectives that might not emerge from a human mind.
Adaptive Storytelling
Generative AI and LLMs can adapt their output based on the input they receive. They can continue a story, answer a question, or generate content in real-time, shifting and altering their narrative direction based on user interaction. This adaptive storytelling capability makes them versatile tools for exploration and fabulation, able to navigate through a wide range of narrative possibilities and paths.
Limitless Variations
With no physical or emotional constraints, AI and LLMs can tirelessly generate countless variations on themes, ideas, and stories. They can explore a multitude of narrative pathways, providing users with a vast canvas of potential stories and fabulations. The sheer volume and variety of content they can produce make them invaluable assets for anyone looking to explore new narrative territories and possibilities.
Management of Cognitive Bias
While they might replicate biases present in their training data, AI and LLMs do not possess personal beliefs, experiences, or cognitive biases. This lack of personal subjectivity allows them to generate content that is not filtered through individual human experiences and perspectives, offering a different, sometimes unexpected angle on storytelling and fabulation.
In essence, Generative AI and LLMs are fabulation engines because they facilitate the generation of stories and ideas in a manner that is creative, autonomous, adaptive, and expansive. Their ability to craft narratives and explore imaginative possibilities makes them powerful partners in the endeavor of narrative creation and exploration, whether it’s in the realm of techno-utopias or beyond.
One More Fabulation Engine
With “Derivative Techno-Utopias”, I intentionally engage with past techno-utopian narratives without advocating for utopianism. It’s a project grounded in exploration, particularly of the technological affordances provided by generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs).
The associated application is a manifestation of this exploration. Users pressing the “Generate Techno-Utopias” button aren’t handed utopian promises; instead, they engage with generated content prompting reflection on both the potential and limitations of techno-utopian thought.
This project doesn’t aim for blind utopianism. It’s an investigative tool, a platform for users to interact and generate a vision serving as an opportunity for contemplation and critique.
My introduction to Brautigan’s poem was through Adam Curtis’s series, "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace". The series offered a critical lens, a way to understand the complex dance between technology and utopian vision. Curtis’s analysis, both sharp and insightful, illuminated the path leading to “Derivative Techno-Utopias”.
All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace read by Richard Brautigan
Curtis's series unravels the nuanced dynamics between humans and machines, shedding light on the promises and perils embedded within this relationship.
In sum, “Derivative Techno-Utopias” is a reflective and interactive endeavor, not a utopian proclamation. It’s a space for users to generate artificially, techno-utopian narratives while considering their affordances and limitations. The project investigates the intersection of past and present, derivative and innovative, within the realm of techno-utopian narrative.
Forever Derivative
The term "derivative" in “Derivative Techno-Utopias” and in my work is purposeful. This project isn’t concocting utopian visions in a vacuum; rather, it's building upon, or deriving from, previous narratives, specifically the techno-utopian tales that have come before. The work intentionally engages with and extends the optimistic blending of technology and nature found in Richard Brautigan’s 1967 poem, creating a dialogue with these existing ideas and contributing to an ongoing cultural conversation.
The “derivative” aspect also highlights the project's explorative nature, signifying that the technology utilized, particularly AI and LLMs, are not generating content arbitrarily. Instead, they work within a framework informed by historical techno-utopian concepts, drawing upon and re-contextualizing these ideas for contemporary reflection and critique. It's an intentional echo, a revisitation of past ideals with present-day understanding and technology, aiming to illuminate how these utopian visions hold up, transform, or falter over time and within our current context.
Hence, the “derivative” in “Derivative Techno-Utopias” isn't indicative of a lack of originality or innovation. Instead, it’s a nod to the project’s roots in existing utopian visions, and an acknowledgment of the iterative process of engaging with and building upon these narratives. The project is meant to prompt reflection not just on the generated content but also on the historical and cultural contexts from which these techno-utopian visions are derived.
Other of my app projects playing with entangled fabulation; perhaps as an embodiment of many paradoxical visions.
Proteus | Time Travelers Dating Portal
Name: Bisan Al-Lam, Handle: @bisanishere Bio: Bisan Al-Lam is an immigrant digital artist based in the USA who creates challenging and thought-provoking works in a broad range of media like installation, robotics, ai, performance, video, sound, sculpture, painting, drawing, photography and digital. "My work challenges traditional socio-cultural norms, highlights minority issues and encourages to defy prejudices & expectations. Check out my latest artwork #YearningForFreedom - a multimedia installation. I used video, sculpture and robots to express my inner struggle for a better future. تطلع فيها الجمل ليجن بوحي حب واسخاء. مَن على الأرض ينشد الحرية، لكي نستَسْلِمْ الآن وفي الأجَل 🤍 #installation #robots #ai #performance #video #sound #sculpture #painting #drawing #photography #digital #bisanishere"
Text and image generated with Synthetic Minority Artist
Marlon Barrios Solano
Zagreb, October 2nd 2023