From JODI to AIDOJ: The "Disruption" of Internet Art by Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

This article reflects on the oddities of recent artificial intelligence (AI) tools available on the internet, with the aim of creating an internet artwork titled AIDOJ (2023). It examines the biases stemming from the intrinsic elements of these tools — namely statistical principles and the interpretation of pre-existing data — as well as their large-scale nature. These factors tend to make the tools aesthetically conservative (Martín Prada, 2024), promoting "average" versions of the language (Weatherby, 2023) and reinforcing conventional and hegemonic norms. Believing that the field of art serves as a powerful space for critically reflecting on the implications of technology, we begin by encountering the term "disruptive" — a term whose modern usage denotes a contained and "marketable" form of rebellion. This inadvertently defines one of the most transgressive movements in the history of internet art: the European duo JODI — formed by Joan Heemskerk and Dirk Paesmans. We then prompted one of the most popular AI systems to generate creative outputs as chaotic and subversive as JODI's work. Through this process, the compilation of a hundred generated outputs — represented as HTML pages — forms an internet artwork. The work materialises, and as a result, AIDOJ raises critical questions about artistic creation with AI systems, exposing the aesthetic timidity of these technologies.