Unprompted

Unprompted has unintentionally become a time capsule— a record of an earlier moment in our relationship with AI, when its limitations were easier to see, and its outputs felt more alien. Today, it offers a small window back to that moment— a reminder of how this technology once appeared to us.

What is Unprompted? Each carefully curated artwork was created from a hidden prompt. Your task is to uncover it — and, along the way, encounter how the algorithm interprets its own creative process.

MoTU welcomes all to join in the journey of machine learning.

MoTU engages all visitors through a gamified art experience.

MoTU builds inclusive spaces for all humans to encounter the machine mind.

The experience of MoTU is guided by four core principles:

Gazing carefully at each artwork, you begin to notice familiar elements. Take a bold guess and type the words into the text box. Press enter to check for correct matches and earn points for each correct word. Don’t worry, guess as many times as you like. Any artworks you choose to skip for now will be shown again later.

If unsure what you’re seeing, spend 10 points to reveal one word of the prompt.

The progress you’ve made completing prompts will allow you to access certain gifts from the gift shop, where artworks are brought to life across a wide range of products. Don’t miss out!

Completing the prompt for certain artworks will trigger A.I.-generated text descriptions of that artwork, allowing you the opportunity for an extra level down the rabbit-hole of machine-learning associations. More broad A.I.-generated statements on the future role of A.I. in art and society will also be found at the start of each gallery visit, slowly building a background narrative, subtly reframing what you are seeing as you progress.

About the Game

Unprompted was created in early 2022, at a time when generative AI was new and visibly strange. In the years since, AI-generated images have become far more polished— and far more controversial. This game is not an attempt to replace artists or shortcut creative labor. It was an experiment in designing a game around machine-made content: asking what kinds of play, reflection, and curiosity emerge when the machine's role is highlighted rather than hidden.

Unprompted was created by Matt Eshleman. The idea was born during the Shanghai COVID lockdown of spring 2022, when he was confined to his apartment for two months, making experimental games. During this time, Matt learned to both deeply fear and cautiously embrace the coming AI.

Unprompted is neither wholly human-made, nor wholly machine-generated. As such, the designer takes sole responsibility for the content of this game. Images were generated with Craiyon. Some texts were generated in part with ChatGPT and GPT-3, OpenAI's large-scale language generation models. Generated draft language was subsequently reviewed and edited to the developer's liking.