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Code as Medium
2.8 Build an Interpretive System

Session 2 · AI Art Crafting · Lesson 08

Build an Interpretive System

Build Phase

Choose one system type. Select one primary input. Define one interpretive rule. Build a working interpretive loop.

Concept

  • One type, one input, one rule — constraint first, ambition after.
  • The diagram is the artwork's skeleton: input → interpretation → rule → output → feedback.
  • A conceptual claim anchors every technical choice.

What is your system's one interpretive rule?

Slides

  1. 15

    Student Practice: Build Phase

    • Choose one system type
    • Select one primary input
    • Define one interpretive rule
    • Build a working interpretive loop

Student activity

35:00
  1. 01Choose one workflow (A–D) as your system's interpretive engine.
  2. 02Work that workflow through: one primary input, one interpretive rule, one loop.

Output becomes new input · Repetition produces drift · Drift reveals system bias.

  1. 01Choose a seed image

    Pick one photograph from your archive — the loop starts there, and it is the only image you choose. Good seeds have a clear subject plus some ambiguity for the loop to chew on. Nothing is uploaded here; the image goes straight into the chat.

  2. 02Build your loop prompt

    How many times the loop runs. Three is enough to see drift.

    One detail the loop should report on every round.

    Your loop prompt

    You are one half of a feedback loop. I will upload a seed image. Round 1: describe the image in two or three plain sentences — only what is there, no interpretation. Then generate a new image from your description, exactly as written. Every following round: describe the image you just generated, then generate again from that new description. Run three rounds. After each round, add one line noting what changed from the round before. Do not improve, correct, or stabilize the drift — the drift is the material.

  3. 03Run it in one ChatGPT thread

    ChatGPT

    Multimodal chat with a free tier. The workshop's default interpreter — give it an image and it will describe, read, and re-read what it sees.

    Not started

    Open ChatGPT, upload your seed image, paste your loop prompt, and let every round run in the same thread — the thread is the loop. If it stops early, reply "next round".

    Open in new tab(opens ChatGPT in a new tab)

    External tool — it has its own privacy policy and may change or require an account.

Read the drift