Sheffield-based immersive art and design studio Haus of Thrills (HOT)has launched a satirical interactive art project and social experiment to see how audiences use AI to transform iconic works of art.
The Taken AI project invites users to transform famous masterpieces by clicking a button to “become an artist” and generate prompts to tweak them.
Each new contribution permanently overwrites the last, creating a continuously evolving image that is then “touched by everyone, improved by no one”.
The experiment begins with a self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh, with the digital tool challenging audiences to debate creativity and ownership in the age of AI.
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It ultimately asks users to ponder the question: if AI builds and erases everyone else’s work, who really owns the final creation?
Created as the studio’s first dedicated piece of digital social commentary, Taken AI is a tongue-in-cheek take on the rise of AI-generated art and the growing belief that anyone can become an artist with little more than a four-second prompt.
Kyle Wilkinson, founder of Haus of Thrills (HOT), said: “Taken AI is a tongue-in-cheek response to the idea that creativity can be reduced to a few words and a click of a button. It asks people to think about what is gained, what is lost and whether technology is enhancing creativity or simply erasing the human touch.
“This project is designed to spark conversation around how AI is trained on existing artists’ work, how originality can become blurred, and how people both fear and actively use artificial intelligence tools at the same time.”
Since launching in 2024, HOT has secured commissions from major names including Santander and Silverstone, as well as designing the 60th anniversary Mustang for Ford and more recently, just debuted its first international exhibition in New York.
