MERZMENSCH

Merzmensch is a cultural scientist, publicist, and artist specializing in the intersection of artificial intelligence and art. With a background in cultural studies and art history, he has been running his blog, Merzazine, since 2017, where he writes about art and digital culture. His book KI-KUNST (AI ART) (Wagenbach Verlag, 2023; second edition: 2024) in the series DIGITALE BILDKULTUREN explores the creative possibilities of generative AI and its crucial role in the context of art history.

A scholar of the historical avant-garde and Dadaism, Merzmensch works theoretically and practically with generative AI to develop new forms, aesthetics, and artistic concepts that bring humans and machines together as creative partners. Since 2016, he has been exploring the creative side of generative AI by experimenting with the most accessible models and approaches. Since 2020, he has been a creative member of the OpenAI Community Ambassador group. In 2021, on the eve of the diffusion models, Merzmensch gained exclusive access to DALL-E 1 and began his usual approach: to unleash the creativity of AI by pushing models to their limits.

In addition to visual art, his work includes AI-generated music projects such as Latent Voices and video projects such as Hyakunin Isshu (a reinterpretation of classical Japanese poetry using generative AI). Through workshops and exhibitions, he makes the interaction between humans and machines tangible and accessible. As an essayist, he reflects on the cultural significance of AI in art (in NZZ, Die Zeit, EIKON, DOCMA, Harper's Magazine, Frankfurter Hefte, and in the broadcasts of ARD, BR, HR, Deutschlandfunk, etc.) and shares his insights into the new cultural epoch being shaped by these technologies.