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XAIxArts Manifesto: Explainable AI for the Arts

Nick Bryan-Kinns, Shuoyang Jasper Zheng, Francisco Castro, Makayla Lewis, Jia-Rey Chang, Gabriel Vigliensoni, Terence Broad, Michael Clemens, Elizabeth Wilson

TL;DR

The paper critiques the technocentric focus of current XAI explanations and proposes the XAIxArts manifesto to reframe explainability through arts practice and inclusive community critique. It describes the manifesto’s development via a 39-person international workshop (with 11 submissions) and a World Café-inspired, living manifesto process that culminates in XAIxArts 1.0. The manifesto articulates four guiding themes—Empowerment/Inclusion/Fairness, Valuing Artistic Practice, Hacking and Glitches, and Openness—with concrete actions such as inclusive design, artist residencies, open datasets/tools, and embracing glitches as creative material. The work promotes ongoing, open participation, accessibility, and cross-disciplinary collaboration to broaden XAI beyond technocentric discourses and to foster responsible, human-centered AI in the arts.

Abstract

Explainable AI (XAI) is concerned with how to make AI models more understandable to people. To date these explanations have predominantly been technocentric - mechanistic or productivity oriented. This paper introduces the Explainable AI for the Arts (XAIxArts) manifesto to provoke new ways of thinking about explainability and AI beyond technocentric discourses. Manifestos offer a means to communicate ideas, amplify unheard voices, and foster reflection on practice. To supports the co-creation and revision of the XAIxArts manifesto we combine a World Café style discussion format with a living manifesto to question four core themes: 1) Empowerment, Inclusion, and Fairness; 2) Valuing Artistic Practice; 3) Hacking and Glitches; and 4) Openness. Through our interactive living manifesto experience we invite participants to actively engage in shaping this XIAxArts vision within the CHI community and beyond.

XAIxArts Manifesto: Explainable AI for the Arts

TL;DR

The paper critiques the technocentric focus of current XAI explanations and proposes the XAIxArts manifesto to reframe explainability through arts practice and inclusive community critique. It describes the manifesto’s development via a 39-person international workshop (with 11 submissions) and a World Café-inspired, living manifesto process that culminates in XAIxArts 1.0. The manifesto articulates four guiding themes—Empowerment/Inclusion/Fairness, Valuing Artistic Practice, Hacking and Glitches, and Openness—with concrete actions such as inclusive design, artist residencies, open datasets/tools, and embracing glitches as creative material. The work promotes ongoing, open participation, accessibility, and cross-disciplinary collaboration to broaden XAI beyond technocentric discourses and to foster responsible, human-centered AI in the arts.

Abstract

Explainable AI (XAI) is concerned with how to make AI models more understandable to people. To date these explanations have predominantly been technocentric - mechanistic or productivity oriented. This paper introduces the Explainable AI for the Arts (XAIxArts) manifesto to provoke new ways of thinking about explainability and AI beyond technocentric discourses. Manifestos offer a means to communicate ideas, amplify unheard voices, and foster reflection on practice. To supports the co-creation and revision of the XAIxArts manifesto we combine a World Café style discussion format with a living manifesto to question four core themes: 1) Empowerment, Inclusion, and Fairness; 2) Valuing Artistic Practice; 3) Hacking and Glitches; and 4) Openness. Through our interactive living manifesto experience we invite participants to actively engage in shaping this XIAxArts vision within the CHI community and beyond.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 4 sections, 3 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Manifesto Development
  3. XAIxArts Manifesto 1.0
  4. Conclusion and Invitation

Figures (3)

  • Figure 1: Authors Gallery from XAIxArts Workshop 2 at Creativity and Cognition 2024: (1) Performer Manoela Rangel as part of the Patterns In Between Intelligences project explores latent decoding with sensors on the body wilson_embodied_2024, Image Credit: Frank Sperling, https://franksperling.net/Info; (2) A sketching interface for neural audio synthesis models zheng_mapping_2024, MaxMSP and nn, Shuoyang Zheng, Anna Xambó Sedó and Nick Bryan-Kinns, 2024; (3) Generation Process of a Single Coral Model and Coral Database Interface Design on Vision Pro fu2024coralmodelgenerationsingle; (4) The artwork (un)stable equilibrium by Terence Broad, 2019 broad_using_2024; (5) Loki Test chang_loki_2024https://vimeo.com/904719832/d8b045a5b1, TouchDesigner with ChatGPT API, Jia-Rey Chang, 2024; (6) The artwork LOAB by Steph Maj Swanson, 2022 broad_using_2024; (7) 3D Coral Converted by AI Software and Processed into USDZ Format Using Zbrush fu2024coralmodelgenerationsingle; and (8) Looking Back, Moving Forward was exhibited at "Spaces of Enquiry" at the Stanley Picker Gallery in the UK, Apple Pencil is on iPad Pro using the Procreate app, Makayla Lewis, 2024 lewis2024lookingbackmovingforward.
  • Figure 2: Participants of the 2nd International Workshop on Explainable AI for the Arts (XAIxArts)
  • Figure 3: Co-created mind-map from the 2nd International Workshop on Explainable AI for the Arts (XAIxArts) exploring the themes that lead to the creation of the XAIxArts Manifesto. High Resolution and Interactive Mindmap: https://app.excalidraw.com/l/8sDmlvduhSt/6OVLf5GFL7f