This digital humanities project captures the disruptive spirit of ten pieces of creative production technology. These tools enabled artists to create, preserve, and share their work in ways that were more efficient than predecessors, drawing the rebuke of many critics in their day for being too radically modern of an approach to producing media.

The inspiration for this site came from the award-winning short film "Checkpoint" by Áron Filkey and Joss Fong. These talented filmmakers traced the origins of today's disruptive production technology—generative artificial intelligence—to show why this tool is considered to be incredibly powerful while also being undeniably polarizing.

How to navigate this site:

1. Explore this Intro page for the context behind the That Cursed Muse project.

2. Discover examples of controversial production technology from across time.

3. Uncover the way in which generative AI was used to produce these images.

4. Reflect on how humanity's general reaction to new technology is cyclical.

5. Share this project with friends and colleagues who are interested in AI art.