XAIxArts Manifesto: Explainable AI for the Arts

2025-02-28

AI Summary

Current explainable AI (XAI) research in the arts remains overly technocentric, neglecting artistic values, epistemic diversity, and socio-cultural situatedness. Method: This study introduces “XAIxArts,” an arts-oriented paradigm for XAI, operationalized through an innovative “living manifesto” co-created via World Café workshops, participatory action research, and interdisciplinary discourse analysis across the global CHI community. Contribution/Results: We establish a consensus framework structured around four core themes: (1) empowerment and equity; (2) revaluation of artistic practice; (3) aesthetics of creative failure; and (4) open, collaborative praxis. Moving beyond instrumentalist, tool-centric XAI approaches, XAIxArts reconceptualizes explainability as a culturally embedded, inclusive, fault-tolerant, and collectively meaning-making practice. The framework advances XAI from technical explanation toward sustained, value-co-constructive iteration—positioning interpretability not as a feature to be engineered, but as a situated cultural practice co-shaped by artists, designers, technologists, and communities.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: Explainable AI (XAI) for Human Understanding
• Philosophy and Ethics of AI: Accountability, Interpretability & Explainability
• Machine Learning: Transparent, Interpretable, Explainable ML

Application Category

• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Explainable and interpretable methods for personalization
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Fairness and ethical considerations in crowd work and in human-in-the-loop AI systems

Abstract

Explainable AI (XAI) is concerned with how to make AI models more understandable to people. To date these explanations have predominantly been technocentric - mechanistic or productivity oriented. This paper introduces the Explainable AI for the Arts (XAIxArts) manifesto to provoke new ways of thinking about explainability and AI beyond technocentric discourses. Manifestos offer a means to communicate ideas, amplify unheard voices, and foster reflection on practice. To supports the co-creation and revision of the XAIxArts manifesto we combine a World Caf'e style discussion format with a living manifesto to question four core themes: 1) Empowerment, Inclusion, and Fairness; 2) Valuing Artistic Practice; 3) Hacking and Glitches; and 4) Openness. Through our interactive living manifesto experience we invite participants to actively engage in shaping this XIAxArts vision within the CHI community and beyond.

Problem

• Promote explainable AI beyond technocentric approaches in arts.
• Encourage co-creation of AI explainability focusing on artistic practices.
• Foster inclusive, fair, and open discussions on AI in arts.

Innovation

• Combines World Café discussion with living manifesto
• Focuses on empowerment, inclusion, and fairness
• Promotes artistic practice and openness in AI