Projects
I & AI: Co-Authoring Identity in the Mirror Realm
I & AI: Co-Authoring Identity in the Mirror Realm
A hybrid interactive installation and live performance exploring human-AI collaboration, identity, and social embodiment through collective creations and reflections.
After repeated AI winters—cycles of hype, disillusionment, and resurgence—we find ourselves in a new phase where AI-generated content increasingly shapes our perception of self and others. From text and images to deepfake videos, the boundaries between the human and the synthetic are becoming increasingly fluid.
'I & AI: Co-Authoring Identity in the Mirror Realm' is an interactive installation and immersive performance that invites participants to question, co-create, and reflect on their evolving selves. Using motion tracking, generative AI, augmented reality, and 3D projection, the work transforms audience input into real-time, dynamic identity mosaics.
Operating at the intersection of human-AI collaboration, identity formation, and social embodiment, the project allows participants to continuously input personal data, which AI then interprets and transforms into reflective visual and audio compositions. These evolving digital reflections shift in response to collective interaction, exposing the tension between human intention and machine interpretation. Live audiovisual performances extend this dialogue, further exploring the fluidity of identity between the individual and the collective.
Both a speculative provocation and an embodied experience, 'I & AI' challenges audiences to see AI not just as a tool, but as a collaborator in shaping personal and societal narratives. By dissolving the boundary between the self and the synthetic, the project encourages new forms of introspection, connection, and critical engagement with once-frozen, now-emerging technologies.
Through immersive storytelling, 'I & AI' raises a crucial question:
In this new season of AI, can we build trust and acceptance, or are we merely witnessing another fleeting moment in the cycle?
Experiment
£20,000
Aims of the Project
‘I & AI: Co-Authoring Identity in the Mirror Realm’ explores how immersive technologies can redefine human-AI collaboration, identity, and social embodiment.
With the support of Immersive Arts UK, this project will push the boundaries of interactive storytelling, blending motion tracking, generative AI, augmented reality (AR), and 3D projection to create an experience where human and AI co-author evolving identities.
By aligning immersive storytelling with Human-AI collaboration, ‘I & AI’ transforms the familiar act of looking into a mirror into a speculative and participatory experience, challenging audiences to reconsider who—or what—is shaping their identity in the age of AI.
This funding enables:
Experimentation:
Expanding artistic practice through immersive technologies, integrating AI as a collaborator rather than a tool.
Real-Time Interaction & Explainability:
Developing responsive AI-driven installations where audiences actively shape evolving digital reflections while also making AI’s interpretive processes visible and accessible.
Embodied & Collective Creation:
Investigating how individual and collective identity shifts through embodied interactions with AI, to make immersive storytelling more dynamic and participatory.
Sustainability & Accessibility:
Designing an installation that is both technically and ethically mindful, ensuring immersive experiences remain inclusive, thought-provoking, and impactful.
Expansion & Public Engagement:
Showcasing the work in UK-based exhibitions and beyond, contributing to wider conversations on AI, trust, and self-representation in the digital era.
Meet the artist
Jiarong Yu
Lead artist
she/her
Jiarong Yu is a multimedia tech-artist, interaction designer, and doctoral researcher at the University of Edinburgh, specialising in creating immersive and participatory experiences at the intersection of technology and humanity.
Under the alias 6Liè, she merges data sonification, data visualisation, robotic haptic artefacts, extended reality, and interactive installations to craft dynamic, embodied experiences. Her work challenges the boundaries between STEM and the Arts, Human-AI collaboration, Human-Computer Interaction and multimodal storytelling.
Through projects spanning audio-visual performance, 3D animation, video games, and interactive installations, she invites us to reimagine our identity in the tech era.
