AI gave me an assignment, and I did it. Now what?

Brett Ascarelli

About this exposition

How useful can AI be at this present moment to generate assignments or instructions to teach and train people to live more playful, creative and ethical lives? In this artistic research, I try to put aside fears of a dystopian future in which runaway AI assumes control over humanity, and suspend them long enough to play with the idea of reversing the usual dynamic: what if AI were to instruct us, instead of us instructing AI? What kind of positive outcomes could emerge? I borrow from traditions of instruction art and avant-garde art, and I employ discursive practices that alternate between techno-enthusiastic and techno-skeptical. The AI tool ChatGPT and I hold conversations in which we explore the research question together, and in which I prompt ChatGPT to issue me instructions, then I describe the process and result of executing the instructions.

type	research exposition
keywords	AI, assignment, instruction, ethics, everyday life, aesthetics
date	27/09/2024
published	28/01/2026
last modified	28/01/2026
status	published
affiliation	Stockholm University of the Arts
copyright	Brett Ascarelli
license	CC BY-NC-ND
language	English
url	https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/3033444/3033445
doi	https://doi.org/10.22501/artact.3033444
published in	ArteActa – Journal for Performing Arts and Artistic Research
portal issue	14. ArteActa 14/2025

name	Untitled 1
copyright	Brett Ascarelli: UNTITLED 1, 2024, digital photograph
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	picture

name	group of mechanical pencils
copyright	Brett Ascarelli: GROUP OF MECHANICAL PENCILS, 2024, digital photograph
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	background, background, background, background, background, background

name	Untitled 2
copyright	Brett Ascarelli: UNTITLED 2, 2024, digital photograph
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	picture

name	Untitled
copyright	Brett Ascarelli: UNTITLED, 2024, digital photograph
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	picture

name	Untitled 5
copyright	Brett Ascarelli: UNTITLED 5, 2025, pencil drawing.
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	background

name	Untitled 4
copyright	Brett Ascarelli: UNTITLED 4, 2025, pencil drawing.
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	background, background

name	Untitled 7
copyright	Brett Ascarelli: UNTITLED 7, 2025, pencil drawing.
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	background

name	PHOEBE WAS HERE
copyright	Brett Ascarelli: PHOEBE WAS HERE, 2025, pencil drawing
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	picture

name	office "fort"
copyright	Brett Ascarelli: OFFICE 'FORT', 2025, digital photograph
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	picture

name	Drawing from inside the fort
copyright	Brett Ascarelli: DRAWING FROM INSIDE THE FORT, 2025, pen drawing
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	picture

Research Catalogue

an international database for artistic research

AI gave me an assignment, and I did it. Now what? (2026)

Copyrights