Reflecting on his pioneering days, the musician Brian Eno said that his first instinct upon acquiring a new synthesizer was to hack its intended use. He wanted to push beyond the manual to explore what uncharted territory lay hidden within the machine. Now, consider the algorithmic systems at our fingertips. They can conjure any image or text in seconds. What a firework. But how high does this kind of output rank on a scale of ‘never done before’?

As with any tool, regardless of how accessible it is, mastery is never a quick and simple journey. How much is actually possible with existing technology? How far can we push the envelope and go beyond the causal chain of input instructions and output creation? How can we cook creative breakthroughs with the ingredients we already have?

Professor Friedrich von Borries is tackling this exact question: Can AI be creative? Can it think artistically? And how should creatives engage with these new tools? To find the answers, he and his Partner Alexander Doudkin are building the  multi-agent AI platform Art of X – always in collaboration with partners in creative industries and academia.
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Von Borries teaches design theory at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts (HFBK), operating at the intersection of architecture, design, and art. As both scholar and designer, he analyzes reality while actively intervening in it, bridging the worlds of art and science with everyday culture and the economy.

His work spans exhibitions, master plans, films, and artistic interventions, and he is a regular contributor to publications ranging from Suhrkamp to Monopol, and NZZ to brandeins. Together with Doudkin and communications expert Torsten Fremer, he produces the Monopol podcast “Fantasiemuskel”, where art and business intersect.