The Atlas of Anomalous AI, edited by Ben Vickers and K Allado-McDowell, is a seminal 303-page interdisciplinary work that maps the complex, non-linear history of artificial intelligence. Rather than treating AI as a modern technical novelty, the book frames it as a "hyperdimensional" continuation of ancient systems of knowledge, including divinatory practices and occult traditions. Core Themes and Structure
Diverse Perspectives: Features contributions from writers like Yuk Hui, Hito Steyerl, and Benjamin Bratton, alongside classic texts from Jorge Luis Borges and the Upanishads.
These anomalies represent "attractors"—mathematical rifts where the AI’s training data collapses into a specific, unintended archetype. These are not programmed entities, yet they persist across different prompts and seeds. They are the ghosts in the code, reminding us that within the black box of neural weights, there are "dark corners" where the AI’s internal logic forms patterns that human designers never anticipated and cannot easily explain. Linguistic Glitch-Tokens and the Void
The Atlas of Anomalous AI provides a comprehensive overview of the complex and multifaceted issue of AI anomalies. By understanding the causes and consequences of AI anomalies, researchers and practitioners can develop more robust, reliable, and trustworthy AI systems.
: Explores the relationship between machine and human interpretation, questioning how we perceive and understand intelligence across different species and systems. Neural | Critical digital culture and media arts Artistic and Intellectual Foundations The work draws heavy inspiration from art historian Aby Warburg’s Mnemosyne Atlas
The Atlas of Anomalous AI, edited by Ben Vickers and K Allado-McDowell, is a seminal 303-page interdisciplinary work that maps the complex, non-linear history of artificial intelligence. Rather than treating AI as a modern technical novelty, the book frames it as a "hyperdimensional" continuation of ancient systems of knowledge, including divinatory practices and occult traditions. Core Themes and Structure
Diverse Perspectives: Features contributions from writers like Yuk Hui, Hito Steyerl, and Benjamin Bratton, alongside classic texts from Jorge Luis Borges and the Upanishads.
These anomalies represent "attractors"—mathematical rifts where the AI’s training data collapses into a specific, unintended archetype. These are not programmed entities, yet they persist across different prompts and seeds. They are the ghosts in the code, reminding us that within the black box of neural weights, there are "dark corners" where the AI’s internal logic forms patterns that human designers never anticipated and cannot easily explain. Linguistic Glitch-Tokens and the Void
The Atlas of Anomalous AI provides a comprehensive overview of the complex and multifaceted issue of AI anomalies. By understanding the causes and consequences of AI anomalies, researchers and practitioners can develop more robust, reliable, and trustworthy AI systems.
: Explores the relationship between machine and human interpretation, questioning how we perceive and understand intelligence across different species and systems. Neural | Critical digital culture and media arts Artistic and Intellectual Foundations The work draws heavy inspiration from art historian Aby Warburg’s Mnemosyne Atlas