Whispers from Buzz
2019
Installation
Artificial intelligence that produces poetry from trending words
Now that everyone carries a smartphone and is constantly connected online, yesterday’s news and buzz are forgotten today. Anyone can transmit information through social networks, and the writing that is posted in such huge volumes day to day drops from the top of your feed to the bottom and is rarely looked back on.
This work is an installation that composes AI-generated poems based on the theme of the trending words that are produced every day on Twitter.
Trending words are keywords that spread like wildfire across social media platforms at any time of any day, or which are searched for online a great number of times, for a moment attracting tremendous attention. This work focuses on Twitter, which in Japan is the social media platform with the most users. Twitter is a platform that generates a wide variety of topics from day to day, ranging from the positive to the negative (flaming).
The AI observes as digital data the language that is generated on social networks and subsequently disappears, and reinterprets this as poetry. This is a new form of intelligence that statistically processes our words and us in the social media age, where tremendous quantities of words are transmitted. The collision between ourselves and this new form of intelligence projects the current state of the media and language that surround us.
For this project, we developed AI that could use deep machine learning to study 200,000 Japanese pieces of Japanese writing and thereby generate new short pieces of writing consisting of multiple texts. Words that are trending on Twitter (and related tweets) are obtained in real-time, and word groups with strong links to the trending words are thus deduced. Expressions are formed from these words, and short piece of writing consisting of multiple consistent texts are then generated.Three AI with various set characteristics can create as much as 2160 poems per day.
These pieces of writing range from those which appear to be very strongly pushing trending words, to those whose poetry seems to bear no relation whatsoever to the trending words. In either case, the poems resound with unrefined poetic sentiment that cannot be found in text written by humans. That reverberation has the power to dissimilate social networking trends and facilitate a critical look at our everyday existence.
Project Movie
Selected Poems
Those are melting together They are blending Tragedy is fusing Black detective is using I’m a black detective I’m dealing with it Actively 28/2/2019 17:46:56
My mother went to see the movie My mother went to see the photo I went to see time I passed time to see a letter I thought you would be happy I think he isn’t happy I think she isn’t suicide I think she isn’t happy 8/2/2019 00:00:00
There are signs There is a rainy season There’s a foolish smile Power comes on Eyes arrive Go round the stairs Go down the stairs 2/3/2019 21:42:55
I’m staying on a boat tonight The bustling group is lying down Spring sets into today The tragedy is that today has arrived The tragedy is that you are here You’re here this year 2/3/2019 21:46:55
She looked back with a smile She came back smiling He came back smiling You replied to that I became myself I became her She’s not the only other person The other person isn’t limited to her 3/3/2019 10:28:11 *Would you shoot a friend who has become a zombie?
I love it too I love it as well I also love it I love myself It’s for that reason that I like it I’m in love with you I love you I love you 2/3/2019 00:00:00
The year’s business has finished The clients’ business has ended The big clock has stopped Testimony and cases have ended I’ve decided to marry a customer I said he married his manager Nomotada Haruka is said to be void We also say that a contract is void 28/2/2019 13:36:56 *death from overwork
Finger became disconnected from textile My eyes come out from textile The world was reduced from textile It’s like the world is getting smaller with progress It’s like a story has gone beyond reality I became friends with my mother I want to become friends with you 1/3/2019 12:47:57
This is the year 1990 This is the year 0000 This year is week 000 days School starts on month 0, day 0, hour 0 Sunday will be now day and hour Sunday is now sometimes? From when will you be there? When does the movie start? 1/3/2019 10:32:57
Surely you know You know he’s a senior figure You know what that it Now I can’t wait I cannot wait for anything I remember How far To what extent it was possible 2/3/2019 11:28:11
I tried to object I obtained an objection I became aware of my advice Agreed I agreed and resigned I approve your plan Please enjoy your proposal Let’s comply with your demands 1/3/2019 9:48:56
Looking forward to tomorrow Looking forward to the results I’m looking forward to that letter Letter to time There’s time until Monday Please give me time until Monday Give me time until Monday 21/1/2019 00:00:00
That’s decided I decided that I decided this I will decide that Please start the town Please start voting Please begin voting 28/2/2019 14:42:57
I was praying for his happiness I was making known his success I tried his joke and nodded You and your parents also believed You too, in the same way, have no problems I won’t speak in the end I absolutely won’t put out what I’ll never move here 2/3/2019 21:04:59
I can’t reply Cannot reply Teacher was answering Breathed That boy sighed That old person leaked the amount The detective shaved his eyebrows The detective collected eyebrows close to the nose 2/3/2019 14:44:03
There are signs Long spell of rain is marked The searchlight is on Containing a pistol The wall is stained Steps are extending Feet are wet 28/2/2019 13:36:56
Artist: Tomoya Ishibashi
AI Engineer: Kento Niikura
Motion Designer: Ryuji Yoshida
Designer: Kohei Futakuchi
Engineer: Tomoya Yoshida
Support received from Project to Support Emerging Media Arts Creators (Agency for Japan Cultural Affairs)