Amidst the scorching summer heat, I was afraid to go outside. I stayed home and wrote calligraphy on hand fans.

Generate the wind

I am transforming the ecosystem

Harness nature’s power

Every breath of wind is unique

Every breath of wind is beyond AI’s reach

Every culture has invented hand fans. A hand fan is like an extension of the hand. When waving the fan, people enjoy their collaboration with nature as the fan generates wind. They feel satisfied from having a bit of control over nature while also being compliant with it.

Don’t underestimate this seemingly mundane phenomenon. Until today, theories in Fluid Mechanics, turbulence research, and wind tunnel experiments still cannot fully explain it. However, this is not surprising. The natural world has evolved over countless billions of years, and humans have developed for millions of years, and yet our technology has only a few thousand years of history. Even today, with its frighteningly fast development, its powerful arithmetic and big language models, AI still cannot decipher each seemingly repetitive but totally unique and complex instance. What does AI create? What does it contribute to the natural world? One thing that we can be sure about is that every waving movement of the hand changes the surrounding environment. We know about the “butterfly effect" and the "conservation of energy,” but how far will the wind generated by a fan travel? How will it transform and where will it stay? Based on existing knowledge, we dare to say that this breath of wind can travel an infinite distance. Yet, how far? No one really knows.

I have spent my whole life doing art, and half of it is dedicated to what is called contemporary art. Despite my enthusiasm in art, the more I do it, the less I know what I am actually doing. What is the purpose of art? What does it mean to make art? (But there are not many things I am capable of doing besides art). Since the rise of AI in the past two years, many people, including some artists, have started to worry about AI replacing what they do sooner or later. However, my love for “art” has been stronger than ever. I'm proud to have accidentally stumbled into such an important field (if art is still considered as a field), and art will only become more important. I am confident to say that the more AI develops, the more important art becomes, and the more we need art to compete with AI, in order to keep the progress of civilization in balance. Because in this world, "art" is the least likely to be replaced by AI. So, what is art? This circles back to an age-old question. Every new technological breakthrough seems to make us revisit these old questions. Art is a special thing that is naturally “emanated” from humans. It is unique, random, and uncertain. These qualities are probably the most artistic part of it all—something that AI cannot replicate. Every waving movement of my hand is unique. It cannot be turned into data, and it is beyond the reach of AI.

Xu Bing, Summer of 2024