Human-Made Human
Exploring Identity, Voice, and Performance through AI Idols
YUSHIEN, 2024
Abstract
Human-Made Human: Exploring Identity, Voice, and Performance through AI Idols is an interdisciplinary exhibition that investigates the evolving role of virtual idols in the age of artificial intelligence. Through the creation of AI-generated idols, original music, simulated concerts, and fictional media interviews, the project explores how identity, voice, and performance are reimagined when the performer is no longer human, but algorithmically constructed.
By drawing on the aesthetics of J-pop, K-pop, and digital fandom cultures, this work engages with critical questions surrounding the authenticity of affect, algorithmic personhood, and the commodification of virtual bodies. The exhibition situates itself within contemporary academic discourse on posthuman identity, synthetic voice technologies, and the politics of performance, while also addressing broader issues such as gender representation, fan labor, and the blurred boundaries between creator and consumer in the era of participatory media. Ultimately, the project invites viewers to reflect on what it means to "be human" in a world where humans can now be manufactured.
Keywords: AI idols, virtual identity, synthetic voice, posthuman performance, algorithmic personhood, virtual celebrity, computational embodiment
Click here to listen to the soundtrack