Arte is innovating by broadcasting from December 16 a series designed by several Artificial Intelligences, supervised by a renowned illustrator: Jocelyn Collage. A first, made up of ten surreal, surprising and crazy episodes.

ARTE is innovating – once again – with an unprecedented television experience: "Prompt," a series of captivating mini-fictions that pushes the boundaries of artistic creation in the age of artificial intelligence. Viewers can discover this unique experience on arte.tv, YouTube, and the channel's social media channels starting Monday, December 16. A groundbreaking human-machine collaboration.

Jocelyn Collages, a renowned press illustrator, embarked on a bold creative adventure using several AI tools such as Midjourney, ChatGPT.... His goal? Testing the inventive capabilities of AI which was ordered to produce ten episodes of 2 minutes 30 seconds. The surprising result mixes poetry, absurdity and science fiction.

An innovative concept

The original idea of the author of this mini-series is based on the simple and increasingly widespread idea that "AI competition is unfair". It was therefore necessary to demonstrate its skills and/or its limits. Each episode thus features an imaginary conversational agent, personified by a face generated by AI., which answers the everyday questions of a protagonist. These surrealist exchanges open the door to universes fascinating parallels.

A unique aesthetic

The AI's responses are illustrated with artificially created images, as well as collages, all reworked by Jocelyn Collages.

This approach produces a disconcerting aesthetic that sometimes evokes the work of great artists like Dalí or Duchamp, or the animated films of the 80s-90s. With this paradox, a slightly outdated romantic aesthetic which illustrates an artificial world coming from nowhere.

A reflection on AI in art

As one might suspect, "Prompt" is not just simple entertainment. The series invites reflection on the role of AI in artistic creation and its implications for the future.

The images are made from "artificial intelligence tools, composite illustrations and offbeat collages that the author kneads" for "an invitation to reflect on the absurdities, dangers but also infinite possibilities of AI in storytelling", explains Arte in presenting this series.

AI as a tool, not as a subject

Jocelyn Collages, for his part, insists: «"The principle is to use Artificial Intelligence as a tool for creation, not as a subject for exploration."» This innovative approach questions the place of humans in an increasingly automated world. Like a search for limits to a technology that claims not to have any.

The series explores the misunderstandings and misinterpretations that can arise in the interaction between humans and AI., thus creating a dynamic rich in twists and turns and humor.

A step in audiovisual creation

"AI is disruptive, confusing, but humans are agile. It's up to both of them to tame each other at the cost of misunderstandings, misunderstandings and even relational accidents that are the salt of the series",

summarize the program managers at Arte.

In any case, for AI enthusiasts and those curious about innovation, this announced experience is unmissable. And "Prompt" is already promising to make its mark on the history of audiovisual creation.

Here are the titles of the 10 episodes, while waiting for their broadcast:

Episode 1: The sun
Episode 2: Insomnia
Episode 3: Scooter keys
Episode 4: Office colleagues 
Episode 5: The horoscope
Episode 6: The dogs
Episode 7: Vertigo
Episode 8: Excuse note
Episode 9: Santa Claus
Episode 10: The train

Prompt
Jocelyn Collages Series 
Authors: Jocelyn Collages and Romain Faure-Geors
Co-production: ARTE France, Elda Productions
(France, 2024, 10x2mn30)

A must-see from December 16, 2024 on ARTE platforms.