AI-Generated Code + E-Poetry: Exploring the possibilities of digital poetry with AI generated code in TouchDesigner
Proposal Type
Individual Talk
Location
Algorithms & Imaginaries
Start Date
July 2026
End Date
July 2026
Abstract
The rapid increase in artificial intelligence programming capabilities and the existence of multimedia content creation applications that allow for the integration of such generative code considerably expand the avenues for accessible creation of experimental digital art and digital literature. With this in mind, this talk will address one of these applications that allows for the connection between human and generative work: TouchDesigner (TD). This software ‘is used to build interactive 3D and 2D applications. It is “procedural”, “node-based”, real-time and is considered a visual programming language’ (Derivative, n.d.). In addition, it includes an integrated Python interpreter, which facilitates the incorporation of code written by AI.
Thus, in order to explore the poetic possibilities of AI-supported TD, this paper will be structured in two distinct parts. The first section will consist of a brief overview of poetry produced with generative code in TD, associating it with the general academic tradition of e-poetry, dividing it into interactive and non-interactive, and addressing the work of three specific digital art and poetry creators: Kat (@the.poet.engineer on Instagram), Goma Xantana (@goma_xantana on TikTok) and Okamirufu (@okamirufu.vizualizer on TikTok). In the second section, practical research will be carried out on the accessibility of this new poetic genre of generative co-creation in TD. This second part takes the form of a work diary by a researcher who, starting from zero knowledge of Python, will attempt to develop a digital multimedia poem with AI-generated code in TD to provide a true account of its ease of use.
AI-Generated Code + E-Poetry: Exploring the possibilities of digital poetry with AI generated code in TouchDesigner
Algorithms & Imaginaries
The rapid increase in artificial intelligence programming capabilities and the existence of multimedia content creation applications that allow for the integration of such generative code considerably expand the avenues for accessible creation of experimental digital art and digital literature. With this in mind, this talk will address one of these applications that allows for the connection between human and generative work: TouchDesigner (TD). This software ‘is used to build interactive 3D and 2D applications. It is “procedural”, “node-based”, real-time and is considered a visual programming language’ (Derivative, n.d.). In addition, it includes an integrated Python interpreter, which facilitates the incorporation of code written by AI.
Thus, in order to explore the poetic possibilities of AI-supported TD, this paper will be structured in two distinct parts. The first section will consist of a brief overview of poetry produced with generative code in TD, associating it with the general academic tradition of e-poetry, dividing it into interactive and non-interactive, and addressing the work of three specific digital art and poetry creators: Kat (@the.poet.engineer on Instagram), Goma Xantana (@goma_xantana on TikTok) and Okamirufu (@okamirufu.vizualizer on TikTok). In the second section, practical research will be carried out on the accessibility of this new poetic genre of generative co-creation in TD. This second part takes the form of a work diary by a researcher who, starting from zero knowledge of Python, will attempt to develop a digital multimedia poem with AI-generated code in TD to provide a true account of its ease of use.
Bio
Roque Fernández Alcañiz (Vigo, 2000) is a PhD candidate in Literature and Culture Studies at the University of Santiago de Compostela and is part of the Research Group ‘Teoría da Literatura e Literatura Comparada’ (GI-1371) at the Faculty of Philology and the research project PERFORMA: «Teatro sin teatro: teoría y práctica del no actor en la escena española contemporánea. PERFORMA 3» (PID2023-149349NB-I00). In 2024, he was awarded a contract for early-stage researchers by Banco Santander, which funded the project ‘Poesía multimedia de difusión online. Achegamento teórico e a través de corpus ás novas formas de poesía dixital’. His philological training is marked by his specialisation in Portuguese and German; his doctoral work revolves around multimedia poetic production in Iberian languages and its sociological, aesthetic and communicational analysis. His thesis, ‘Poesía dixital ibérica online. Antoloxización e análise de corpus contemporáneo (2020-2025)’, co-directed by María Teresa Vilariño Picos (USC) and Manuel José de Freitas Portela (Universidade de Coimbra), is funded by the Axudas Predoutorais da Xunta de Galicia (2025-2029).