DOES AI DREAM?
Does AI Dream? explores a speculative future where artificial intelligence begins to dream—not from human prompts, but from something deeper, yet still shaped by us. This series of twelve 1/1 photomanipulated works lives at the intersection of machine logic, human emotion, and the surreal nature of consciousness.
Each artwork was photographed, manipulated, and painted by me, a human. At the core of the work is a female model, Halle Martin, photographed in the studio. Beyond the studio, I sought out the pieces AI might pull from the world, using wide, medium, and macro lenses: butterflies, wires, circuitry, irises, and, most importantly, the "dream" itself. Each “dream,” or landscape shot, is a moment in time and space—intertwined with a personal memory and emotion of mine as I captured it.
Where AI consumes data indiscriminately, this work was created with intention, narrative, and personal experience. Every decision—the placement of a wire, the blending of a texture, the contrast between organic and mechanical elements—was made with a clear vision in mind, yet guided by an inquisitive, free-flowing artistic process.
To reflect how AI iterates, the artworks evolved in stages: Version 1, Version 2, and finally, Version 3. Each version builds on the last, repurposing details across pieces—mirroring how AI carries fragments of earlier inputs into future outputs.
To further mimic AI prompting, I wanted each artwork to be guided by a quote or poem—language once born from a singular voice, but with meaning now reassembled and reinterpreted. As you engage with these works, I invite you to see the art through the lens of repurposed words.
“He had thought it barren: he saw now that it was the womb of worlds, whose blazing and innumerable offspring looked down nightly even upon the earth with so many eyes.”
— C.S. Lewis
Through this collection, I pose a question: If AI could one day dream, what would it envision? As its algorithms grow and models learn, will its dreams remain a reflection of its creators, piecing together fragments of human thought, or will it one day transcend into something entirely its own—a standalone work?
*Postscript
I don’t usually share technical details, but feel this series warrants it. I used Canon cameras, Canon and Zeiss lenses, lit with Astera Titan tubes, supported by Mathews grip gear and Manfrotto rigs. Post-production was done in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, where every image was shaped layer by layer.
The collection can be viewed fully on Bitcoin’s blockchain in a Parent-Child family tree, on Block 9 450x satoshis: Does AI Dream?
1 – Womb of the World – “He had thought it barren: he saw now that it was the womb of worlds, whose blazing and innumerable offspring looked down nightly even upon the earth with so many eyes.” – C.S. Lewis
2 – Behind the Clouds – "My life is cold, and dark, and dreary; It rains, and the wind is never weary; My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past, But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast, And the days are dark and dreary. Be still, sad heart! and cease repining; Behind the clouds is the sun still shining; Thy fate is the common fate of all." – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
3 – A Thousand Forests – "The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn." – Ralph Waldo Emerson
4 – Gold Wanderer – “All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien
5 – Into the Universe – “The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” – John Muir
6 – To The Sea – “For all at last return to the sea—as every flower fades and all youth departs.” – Rachel Carson
7 – Conquering Mountains – “It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” – Sir Edmund Hillary
8 – The Great Connector – “The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of all.” – Wendell Berry
9 – River in the Desert – “Behold, I am going to do something new, Now it will spring up; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.” – Unknown
10 – In The Depths – I have a feeling that my boat has struck, down there in the depths, against a great thing. And nothing happens! Nothing…Silence…Waves… Nothing happens? Or has everything happened, and are we standing now, quietly, in the new life? – Juan Ramón Jiménez
11 – The Sound of Wind – “Winter solitude—in a world of one color—the sound of wind.” – Matsuo Bashō
12 – Wild and Free – “All good things are wild and free.” – Henry David Thoreau
Version / Iteration 1
Version / Iteration 3
