Do Machines Dream of Magic?

2023, ongoing

“Do Machines Dream of Magic? ” is a website and series of intimate gatherings co-created by Qianqian Ye and AX Mina.

Try the first iteration: machines-dream-of-magic.glitch.me.

Do Machines Dream of Magic? is a website and series of intimate gatherings aimed at exploring the role of traditional forms of magic during a time of AI magic. It aims to merge ancient beliefs with futuristic systems in order to explore tensions, opportunities, anxieties and hopes around the future of technology in a time of climate change and increased concerns about the state of the world.

The entire website is designed and built with the help from AI - the visuals are generated by Mid Journey or Stable Diffusion, the text is generated with the help of ChatGPT. All the work sits at the intersection of technology, spirituality, and social change, fostering a deeper understanding of the ways in which individuals navigate the digital realm and their relationship with artificial intelligence.

The in-person event is a light gathering of people to experience and deliver the spells. We work with LLMs, Stable Diffusion models and the prompt templates to craft a ritual that we are enacting for protection in this new digital age.

For the first interation of this project, we commissioned artists Cy X, Edgar Fabián Frías, Helen Shewolfe Tseng, and Jamel Mims/ MC Tingbudong to develop AI personas.

We are grateful to the Civic Media Fellowship at the USC Annenberg School of Journalism and Communications and the AI for Media & Storytelling (AIMS) Initiative of USC Center for Generative AI & Society for supporting this project.