Weston James Palmer

Kikai, continued

2026-10-01

October 1, 2026. Kikai, continued. When I first made Kikai, I was mostly thinking about bringing her to life. Now I'm thinking more about what that life is made from. AI is part of how I make her, but so are my drawings, taste, direction, and all the decisions about what stays and what gets thrown away. I want to see how far I can take an idea with these tools. Not just make an image, but build someone you start to recognize. That doesn't mean she comes from nowhere. Some scenes and performances belong to other people before she enters them. Changing the person doesn't erase the work that was already there.

The tools raise another set of questions about whose work they were trained on and what those people had a say in. So what am I making? A character? A body of work? A new identity assembled from things that already exist? Where does my authorship begin, and what remains someone else's? I'm interested in making those questions visible through Kikai. I want the questions around her making to be as visible as the character herself. You can enjoy her and question how she was made. I can stand behind the work and still be accountable for my choices. I don't think those things cancel each other out.