Session 2 · AI Art Crafting · Lesson 04
Feedback Loops
Workflow A
Output becomes new input. Repetition produces drift, drift reveals system bias, and structure changes meaning over time.
Concept
- A loop is the simplest machine for making time visible.
- Drift is data: it shows what the model regresses toward.
- The loop's structure — not its content — carries the meaning.
If repetition produces drift, what does your drift reveal?
Slides
- 10
Workflow Deepening
- Introducing feedback loops
- Introducing iteration
- Introducing conditional logic
- Introducing temporal variation
- 11
Workflow A: Feedback Loops
- Output becomes new input
- Repetition produces drift
- Drift reveals system bias
- Structure changes meaning over time
Student activity
- 01Run a short feedback loop (3+ iterations) — describe with ChatGPT, regenerate with Leonardo — and record each stage in the timeline.
Output becomes new input · Repetition produces drift · Drift reveals system bias.
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.
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.
03Run it in one ChatGPT thread
Not startedChatGPT
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.
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".
External tool — it has its own privacy policy and may change or require an account.
Read the drift