“Speculative AI Re-enactment of the Figurist’s Encounters With the I Ching” by Clarke, Masu and Papatheodorou
Conference:
Type(s):
Title:
- Speculative AI Re-enactment of the Figurist’s Encounters With the I Ching
Session/Category Title:
- Culture and Computation
Presenter(s)/Author(s):
Moderator(s):
Abstract:
This paper presents a speculative AI reenactment of the Figurists’ 17th-century encounter with the I Ching. By drawing parallels between traditional divination practices and contemporary AI systems, the work explores interpretive processes, cultural bias, and the historical lineage of predictive devices. The presented artwork uses AI text embeddings to map intersections between I Ching hexagrams and Biblical characters, visualised through a generative diagram that incorporates hand-drawn elements and evolving connections. This project highlights the potential of AI as both a cultural artefact and a creative system, inviting reflection on the interpretive frameworks, and speculative possibilities inherent in AI technologies.
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