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dyed with earth from each of the 50 states in the US

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As the increasingly conversational capability of AI continues to dominate headlines, Arvind Sanjeev has been looking at the process of co-writing using artificial intelligence. In particular, how we might use product design to welcome people put off by the tech, as well as encouraging more "mindful" prompts. For Arvind, one answer is using the interface of a traditional typewriter.

The typewriter, or Ghostwriter, is powered by the GPT-3 language model from OpenAI. It allows users to enter any prompt through the keys, hit return and receive a response from the AI. (Behind the keys an Arduino processes prompts and shares it with a raspberry pi which queries the GPT-3 API.)

The design of the Ghostwriter is purposefully warm and inviting, owing to the vintage brother model Arvind tracked down online and broke apart to create the product. "The calm meditative interface removes all the digital distractions and takes us on an emotional journey through paper and ink. This lets us become more deliberate with our prompts and pulls us to read each word one after the other, helping us understand the nuances profoundly," says Arvind. There are other playful details that help make the concept of a Ghostwriter seem less intimidating, like the introduction of "tiny curious ghost sprites" displayed on a tiny OLED, "that roamed around while you were playing with the machine," says Arvind.

The first creative project the Ghostwriter was used for was a poetry zine, made with prompts prepared by Arvind and crowdsourced from people on the internet. Arvind outlines the process of creating the typewriter in more detail on Twitter.

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Ever seen a typewriter type back? This AI-powered Ghostwriter does just that

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Artist and interaction designer Arvind Sanjeev is trying to make the AI co-writing experience more tactile with a repurposed worn-out Brother typewriter.

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Many wordsmiths have created their magna opera on typewriters, tapping away into the early hours of the morning, but artist Keira Rathbone uses these now largely obsolete machines to type pictures.

[partner id="wireduk"]Rathbone started creating these typographic works of art in 2003. She told Wired UK: "The idea came to me in a blinding flash, one day sitting in my bedroom with my typewriter, nothing to write, but a desire to press the keys.

"As soon as I attempted my first visual piece on the typewriter, I was hooked and knew this would be my main art form. I could then see that the possibilities were endless (and still are, eight years later)."

The artist was inspired by images that are made up from smaller constituent parts - whether the pixels of a TV screen or dots of color in a painting. She emulated this with her work and says it offers the viewer different perspectives dependent on how they are looking at the works.

"I like that my work carries different meanings from different distances."

A piece of work could take a few seconds, or potentially many hours. Rathbone adds, "It depends what I'm typing and when I decide that it's finished."

She says that the art receives very positive responses from adults - and intrigue from children: "I have people contacting me from all over the world congratulating me on my art and creativity. When I'm typing live I get the word 'amazing' directed my way a lot. This is motivating for me, but also encourages me to keep on thinking about pushing the boundaries of it. Children's responses are interesting as there is a certain age of child that has never seen a typewriter."

Rathbone is joining a long list of typewriter artists, with The Typewriter Museum claiming that the earliest example of this art form dates back to 1898 - it was a picture of a butterfly typed on a Bar-lock typewriter.

Among the more recent masters was Paul Smith, an American suffering from severe cerebral palsy, who created hundreds of pictures.

Rathbone adds an element of theatricality to her art, turning her typing into what she terms "a sort of live installation."

She recently performed at Glastonbury and is off to Bestival with her "sonic typewriter" - a machine that has been adapted to give out "twisted sounds" as she types. She also has an exhibition on at the Upsy Daisy Bakery in Hammersmith, London, which will run until Sept. 2. (And if the lure of artistic merit is not enough for you, they make charming cupcakes!).

See more of Rathbone's work in Wired UK's gallery.

See Also:- Gallery: Surreal to Sublime, Wired.com Readers' Geekiest ASCII Art

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Artist Makes ASCII Art Physical With Typewriter

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Many writers have banged out their greatest works on typewriters, tapping away into the early hours of the morning, but Keira Rathbone uses these now largely obsolete machines to peck out pictures.

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On Monet Hates Me  Tacita Dean in Conversation with Jim Cuno of The Getty, Los Angeles

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Installation at Galerie Lelong, New York of flags stained with red earths from all fifty States of the US. Previously flown at Rockefeller Centre September 2020.

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Clementine Keith-Roach Unearths Ancient Vessels for Her Motherly Sculptures

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From her studio in Dorset, Clementine Keith-Roach sculpts bodily forms that appear plucked from an ancient cavern or soot-filled cellar.

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Music and Sound Vibrations Are 3D Printed Into Ceramic Vessels

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Bouncing rhythmically to a deep beat, Studio van Broekhoven’s 3D printer produces ceramic vessels scored by sound. The objects spin as clay is applied in response to the amplified noise, forging visual markings into the clay by way of audio wavelengths. The project, “Solid Vibration” was produced by spatial sound designer Ricky van Broekhoven andContinue reading “Music and Sound Vibrations Are 3D Printed Into Ceramic Vessels”

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Marilou Schultz Weaves Computer Processor Patterns in Traditional Navajo Tapestries

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What does Intel’s Pentium computer chip have in common with Navajo textiles? More than you might think.

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Laura Ellen Bacon’s Monumental Willow Works Ebb and Flow in Amorphous Masses

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Artist Laura Ellen Bacon transforms hundreds of pounds of willow branches into amorphous, oscillating sculptures.

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Cross A Bridge: A Typewriter Illustration Backdrops a Meditative Trip to Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum of Art

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Lenka Clayton takes viewers on a short road trip to the Carnegie Museum of Art in a tiny and unusual vehicle. A 1957 Smith Corona Skyriter chugs along sparsely illustrated streets constructed with angled letters and punctuation previously typed on a single sheet of paper in her 2018 work “Cross A Bridge.” Commissioned by theContinue reading “Cross A Bridge: A Typewriter Illustration Backdrops a Meditative Trip to Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum of Art”

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Kernel Panic: New Binary Ceramics Punctuated with Typewriter Keys by Laura C. Hewitt

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From her small studio in rural Alaska, artist Laura C. Hewitt fuses the technological with the handmade, producing cyberpunk dishware and cyborg decor from wheel-thrown ceramics. A recurring theme in her work are plates, cups, and bowls speckled with 0’s and 1’s formed by vintage alphanumeric and punctuation keys from old typewriters or machinist punches.Continue reading “Kernel Panic: New Binary Ceramics Punctuated with Typewriter Keys by Laura C. Hewitt”

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Celia Pym, Threads 'breathing stories into materials' at Arnolfini, Bristol

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Dennis hylynsky mapping bird flight paths 

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Dennis hylynsky mapping bird flight paths 

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Chances are if you've on the internet over the last few years you've run into a few amazing bird murmuration videos, like this one from Islands and Rivers or the one we featured on Colossal from Neels Castillion, where countless numbers of starlings flock together and move almost impossibly in concert. Artist Dennis Hlynsky, a professor at the Rhode Island School of Design, wondered what would happen if he could better trace the flight paths of individual birds, what kinds of patterns would emerge from these flying social networks?

Hlynsky first started filming birds in 2005 using a small Flip video recorder, but now uses a Lumix GH2 to record gigabytes of bird footage from locations around Rhode Island. He then edits select clips with After Effects and other tools to create brief visual trails that illustrate the path of each moving bird. Non-moving objects like trees and telephone poles remain stationary, and with the added ambient noise of where he was filming, an amazing balance between abstraction and reality emerges. The birds you see aren't digitally animated or layered in any way, but are shown just as they've flown, creating a sort of temporary time-lapse. Above are three of my favorite videos, but he has many more including the movement of insects, ducks, and other animals.

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Amazing Video Clips Visually Isolate the Flight Paths of Birds

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Chances are if you've on the internet over the last few years you've run into a few amazing bird murmuration videos, like this one from Islands and Rivers or the one we featured on Colossal from Neels Castillion, where countless numbers of starlings flock together and move almost impossibly in concert.

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Sarah sze 'the waiting room' Peckham rye 

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Sarah sze 'the waiting room' Peckham rye 

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Sarah Sze, The Waiting Room, Peckham Rye Station

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Circles. The natural phenomenon of circles is… | by Perry Timms | Medium

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Charles and Ray Eames - the powers of ten 

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Charles and Ray Eames - the powers of ten 

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Artist Cornelia Parker Questions the Rules That Govern Us | Brilliant Ideas Ep. 2

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A crossing, a tomb, dogs and birds. Ushabti were funerary figures crafted to serve in the afterlife as labourers, farmers and servants. Carved out of recycled mahogany these figures are inspired by the shared mythologies of Ushabti from…

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how trees communicate through their roots 

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how trees communicate through their roots 

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How Trees Secretly Talk to Each Other in the Forest | Decoder

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drawing my objects in order of Importance to me 

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drawing my objects in order of Importance to me 