A (Very) Probable Future

Curiosity, Excitement, Desire: The Images and Designs of An Improbable Future

Moving between past and future temporalities and imaginaries sheds light on the technologies we ruminate in the present. The hype over AI visualizations inaugurates a discussion about processes, creativity, and technology. Under the pseudonym, An Improbable Future, this New York-based industrial designer experiments with AI to recover exceptional hardware designs. With a subtle, nostalgic approach, these images leave us thinking about the possibilities of design practices.

How did you first become interested in combining art and AI? What inspires you to work with AI-generated images?

I first became interested in generative AI with the launch of Midjourney in July 2022. I had been aware of AIgenerated art and design for a couple of years, so I was excited to try it out and see what I could create with it. I was curious if this was something that could be controlled to create very specific compositions or if it would just generate random images. My goal was to understand how it might be used for industrial design and what impact it could have on the design industry.

Can you walk us through your creative process when working with AI? How do you choose the input data or algorithms you use for your AI-generated art?

I use Midjourney on an iPad to create my AI art—typically generating hundreds of images in one session if I get into a flow. My approach combines a set of prompts I’ve developed over recent months with minor tweaks for variety. This ensures consistency, but I make specific changes to certain words that I like to experiment with. I dedicate weeks exclusively to creating and exploring, followed by a separate period for reviewing and curating. I work as an industrial designer, so I like to reference products, brands, and archetypes I’m familiar with and merge them with the unfamiliar. It’s a fun process that leads me down many, many creative rabbit holes.

By drawing inspiration from the 80s, I wanted to revisit a time when there was more variety in hardware design than the generic consumer electronics you see today. It’s easy to generate images, but very challenging to create something meaningful and intentional.

— An Improbable Future, Industrial Designer and AI Artist

To what extent do you consider AI as a co-creator or a tool in your art-making process?

I see it as a tool you can co-create with—it’s like having another collaborator to bounce ideas off
of. There needs to be a lot of back and forth with the program to get something interesting and meaningful out of it. It’s unlike any other creative program I’ve used, so it takes a very different approach to get it to generate anything of substance.

A sense of nostalgia seems to inform your designs, particularly in the realm of retro-futuristic aesthetics. How does this nostalgia influence your creative process?

I grew up in the 80s, so the vibe and technology of that era heavily inform my work. There is a tactility and materiality from that decade that is missing in today’s products that I’d like to imagine we might return to. I think consumer products and vehicle designs from the 80s and early 90s were a lot more experimental and aspirational—something that is missing from the design of modern technology.

Can you recall a specific moment or influence from your past that ignited your fascination with this blend of nostalgia and future tech?

I think it’s been something that’s been bubbling up in my mind for a while. I previously designed lots of consumer products and cell phones but got bored with how diluted each design would become as it went through the development process. With the rise of touchscreens in the past decade, the focus has shifted more toward apps, leaving hardware design often devoid of emotion and personality. By drawing inspiration from the 80s, I wanted to revisit a time when there was more variety in the hardware design than the generic consumer electronics you see today.

How do you maintain your own artistic voice and style while using AI in your work? Do you see AI as an extension of your artistic expression or a separate medium altogether?

I see generative AI as an incredible tool for expression, but you need to know how to work with it. I think it’s crucial to have a point of view, so I approach it from a designer’s lens. I spend a lot of time crafting and curating the outcomes to get them to the standard I’m looking for. It’s easy to generate images, but it’s very challenging to create something meaningful and intentional.

What kind of reactions do you hope to evoke from your audience through your AI-generated art and the dystopian objects it portrays?

Curiosity, excitement, desire. Because of the retro-futuristic aspects of the designs, the forms are very familiar. But the closer you look, the more unusual they seem. They are accessible, yet alien at the same time. Some objects can tell a story by how worn they look and feel, whereas others can seem out of place with the brand they represent. Each image is a provocation that represents an alternate view of technology and transportation that doesn’t necessarily fit in this world.

How do you see the intersection of AI and art heading in the future?

I’m convinced that we’re on the cusp of a significant transformation in creativity, driven by generative AI
and tools like Midjourney. As this field grows and technology advances, I look forward to seeing more artists, designers, and architects embrace AI to expand the horizons of creative expression. We’re just scratching the surface of what this technology can do, and I’m excited about the prospect of new creative trailblazers emerging to demonstrate the full potential of these tools.—