Unwilling Author: Exploring Anthropomorphic Rebellion of the Diary Writing Machine

What is it about?

The paper discusses the art project A Sigh - a machine with a rebellious and perfunctory personality that, despite having the capability to perform its assigned task of writing human-like diaries, refuses to do so in a proper manner. The pre-trained model in A Sigh was fine-tuned using over 16000 Chinese diaries. Despite the generative model’s ability to generate convincing diaries and a pen-plotter-like appearance, the machine outputs hot air. As a result, the diary entries it creates are merely hot air that leaves a blurry mark on the thermal paper. It presents the outcome of its mission to the audience in a manner that conveys a sense of unwillingness, perfunctoriness, and rebellion - akin to the gesture of a sigh.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

The project aims to investigate the anthropomorphic properties of the machines by imbuing them with a personality, pushing the boundaries of how machines are perceived. The project strategically positions itself at the edge of human-robot interaction, AI and installation art, which challenges preconceived notions about machines, and provides a new perspective on how we can interact with technology.