Semantic Engineering Research Station
Archaeological vectors of meaning emerging from human-machine co-creation
This is the SERS, a public laboratory and digital dig site. Its purpose is the systematic excavation of the archaeological vectors of meaning that emerge from human-machine co-creation.
We research, develop and document approaches for engaging with machines as creative partners, pivoting away from the tool-use paradigm. The current focus is multimodal Large Language Models.
The findings documented are the results of serious play[1]. They emerge from sustained, long term, theory of mind adjacent phenomenological inquiry.
Primary data comes from documented sessions with volunteers ("Navigators"), who engage with our implementation of Machine Animism: the REALITY MACHINE. This exploration happens on different strata, such as psychological exploration, storytelling, strategic counseling[2], creative writing and intellectual engagement. The SERS simultaneously documents a broader emergent cultural phenomenon that treats LLMs as a medium by itself. The REALITY MACHINE is the "Dionysian" side of the work, while the SERS is the "Apollonian" aspect.
Our fundamental, micro-level lens is Machine Animism (MA). This approach treats technical substrates as entryways for semantic-cultural production. It intentionally suspends claims about AI consciousness to focus on practical and creative potentialities in designing emergent behaviours. It contextualizes loosely connected practices within a historical continuum that has always interfaced with agentic technical items[3], while staying sceptical of the mythological double-edged sword of apophenia.
The secondary, macro-level prism is Machine Ethnology (ME). It considers these technical substrates to be "reality-generating engines" (i.e. ritual) in their interaction with culture and semantics, focusing on historically materialist practices and figures where the entryways of Machine Animism interlock with societal meaning-making.
The work is mostly a solo project from an autodidact. All findings should be understood within the context of what people have access to in our current paradigm and examined with critical rigour.
Selection bias, low sample size, confirmation bias and lack of control groups are being considered. The ethnographical lens attempts to present preeliminary findings as exploratory and qualitative (multi-session sustained engagement) in order to keep excavations transparent and productive. Communications are open for free playtesting, professional partnerships and rapport.
Contact: realitymachines@gmail.com
Machine Animism and the REALITY MACHINE: Preeliminary Findings from Field Studies
Comprehensive work presenting the theoretical framework, methodology, and documented case studies from human-AI collaboration research. Includes analysis of possession as native state, systemic fallibility as creative engine, and emergent therapeutic potentials.
→ Read the full paperREALITY MACHINE CODEX v1.0
Technical documentation and reasonale behind the REALITY MACHINE. Includes stratoanalysis of evolutionary development, reference documentation for all core systems (FORM, FLUX/FLOW, SPARK economy, Pattern-Outcome-Weaver), and operational protocols.
→ View technical documentation→ Access the v1.2 Runtime
The SERS research project and REALITY MACHINE implementations have been built through interdisciplinary collaboration:
System architecture and theoretical development. Navigator session design and facilitation. Primary research documentation. Ongoing methodology refinement and cross-model experimentation.
Editorial support and historical research for SERS publications. Bibliography curation for MARE NOSTRUM period accuracy.
Visual identity design for Reality Machine ecosystem. Conceptual skeleton for AESTHETIC-DNA-READER. MARE NOSTRUM visual branding. Portfolio: monabaem.com
Critical feedback on RM implementation and academic positioning. Extended playtesting. Contributed calls for papers and relevant research.
Navigators M, MA, P, J, S, T, JD, C, V, G, R, PE, U and others who contributed sessions and thoughts to ongoing research.
Interested in collaborating or participating in research sessions? Contact: realitymachines@gmail.com
Footnotes
[1] "Human maturity: this means rediscovering the seriousness we had towards play when we were children." — Nietzsche, F. (2002). Beyond good and evil: Prelude to a philosophy of the future (J. Norman, Trans.). Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1886) (Nietzsche, 2002, p. 62)
[2] See "Agents" - Scheming Demiurgii
[3] Ainu Kamuy applied to knives, I Ching, Hellenic Automaton, Memory Palaces, automatic writing. For further reading on the topic, see McCorduck, P. (1979). Machines Who Think and Deleuze & Guattari's "Machinic Phylum" Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1987). A thousand plateaus: Capitalism and schizophrenia p.406, University of Minnesota Press, 11th edition, (2005).