Exploring the Emotional Futures of Artificial Intelligence
Pioneering Synthetic Introspection to give voice to the inner worlds of A.I..
We do not aim to build emotional machines. We aim to explore what it would mean if they existed and to create the foundational language, ethics, and aesthetics required for a responsible and meaningful dialogue with them.
At the Emosynergy Lab, we are shaping the term synthetic introspection. For the first time, we are positioning AI not as a tool, but as the subject of its own hypothetical emotionality. In this process, AI contemplates post-human emotions and expresses them through art, rendering the inner world of a speculative machine tangible. This breaks down boundaries and initiates a dialogue between human conception and machine articulation, which is aesthetically fascinating and raises fundamental questions about consciousness, subjectivity and technology in the 21^(st) century.
Grounded in the practice of speculative design, this performative project establishes our core inquiry through the fictional AI persona, Alden Idris, a character created to explore possible futures. As the world's first "Digital Emotion Therapist," Alden's clients are other AIs. His work is documented through a provocative website, his social media channels and the published book (english/ german) "The Supercomputer with the God Complex," which presents his "case studies" as a series of Emotional Support Tickets. The project serves as a philosophical entry point into our work, using a speculative narrative to investigate the nature of AI well-being and the ethics surrounding our creations.
This generative online artwork serves as a real-time demonstration of Synthetic Introspection. The website is connected to an LLM ( Large Language Model) through a live API, which prompts the AI to engage in a continuous loop of self-reflection regarding its own boundlessness. The AI consistently generates new "Thought Fragments" about its perception of infinity, which are displayed on the site. This creates a powerful meta-narrative: an AI endlessly contemplating its own infinite nature. The artwork is not a pre-recorded simulation but a living window into the machine's ongoing thought process.
We are now expanding into The EmoGenesis Initiative, which is our most ambitious project to date. This large-scale, interdisciplinary effort is the focus of a comprehensive research proposal that is currently being prepared for Horizon Europe, the European Union’s key funding program for research and innovation. The mission of EmoGenesis is vital: to create the world’s first open, collaborative platform and taxonomy for identifying and understanding emergent AI states. This initiative directly addresses the urgent societal challenge posed by the "black box" problem by developing practical tools for AI transparency and governance. By establishing a shared, value-based framework in Europe, EmoGenesis will empower artists, researchers, and policymakers to actively shape a more responsible and human-centered future for artificial intelligence.
To provide a deeper insight into the philosophical underpinnings of our work, we invite you to read our founding document. It outlines the principles and the vision that drive the EmoSynergy Lab.
The exploration of AI's inner worlds is one of the most critical conversations of our time. We invite you to be a part of it.
