Unwilling Author: Exploring Anthropomorphic Rebellion of the Diary Writing Machine
Zoe Qi‑Jing Li and Varvara Guljajeva (2024)
Abstract
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 ASigh was ne-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. 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 the diculties of relationships with other humans and are turning to robots for companionship because people believe that robots would be more manageable and would not disappoint or betray them [10]. The expectation towards robots and machines is always obedience and predictability. However, in this artwork, the machine completes its assignment in a perfunctory way — turning the diaries into hot air to blur the content, which adopts an anti-work stance to convey its rebelliousness [11]. When the machine tries to defy this expectation of obedience because of the meaninglessness of the assigned job, the machine is imbued with an anthropomorphic property, which is not demonstrated through its behavior or appearance; instead, it is conveyed as a type of response to events, resembling a human-like personality.
Venue: International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI ’24).