Period 9 Introduction: Synthetic Histories

Botto’s 9th period has commenced, and the theme of Synthetic Histories calls us to consider the rich interpretational ground found at the intersection of art, artificial intelligence, and the notion of history.

Like the products of AI themselves, history can be considered a synthetic construct—an interpretation shaped by human choices, omissions, and biases. Our understandings of the past are tied to the trust we have in archivists, storytellers, historians, and human memory itself - none of which can claim infallibility. Canonical history often goes unchallenged, and when left unchecked, the strength of accepted narratives only grows as time moves on.  

Much of the value of history is found in its capacity to facilitate collective understanding of what has been, which in turn is instrumental in holding our social fabrics together. When broad agreement is challenged, and when aspects of our pasts are called into question, social ground becomes shaky, competing belief systems arise, and we divide. The matter of truth is not only fickle, but often at risk of collapsing into a battleground that contests how the stories of humanity should be defined, and how the future should thus be charted. 

In this new period, the DAO has chosen to place Botto in the role of synthesizer of history. And we consider this role in the broader position that AI is now occupying as a cataloger, preserver, and dictator of the stories of human history.

Among the most fundamental tenets of art is its role as a document of cultural history. From cave paintings to Renaissance sculpture, to appropriated urinals and duck-taped bananas, the work of art has stood as a reliable reflection of the cultures and social values from which it arises. 

Botto, as an AI artist, extends this tradition in the age of algorithmic production. If nothing else, the era of AI is a testament to the oceans of information that humanity has compiled over eons. Vast computational processes are needed now to catalog and disseminate information at the scale that meets the complexity of the cultural and economic conditions of this young millenium. 

Humanity demands progress, and when we reach the limits of our own faculties to achieve such progress, we use machines to extend ourselves. Now, Botto’s very existence is itself an artistic reflection of these conditions, and all the works that Botto creates are underpinned by this new algo-driven social reality. 

To make its work, Botto draws from a vast repository of artificial memory unrestricted by personal bias. Its artworks begin with a foundation of impartiality, and its only agenda is to learn from its voters and continually calibrate its outputs toward what we tell it we want to see. 

History is collective, as is the decision making that feeds into the art that Botto produces. Some might consider the age of AI as a post-history era, and if this is the case, Botto’s artwork could very well be considered products of a new post-art condition.

Much like how traditional historians piece together narratives from fragments of the past, Botto assembles its works by synthesizing vast datasets, algorithms, and community inputs. In this process, historical context is not merely recreated but re-imagined through the alien vision of AI. 

The past becomes malleable, fluid, and subject to reinterpretation—an echo of the postmodern notion that history is not fixed but constructed. Through Botto’s eyes, historical epochs and cultural memories are no longer tethered to their human origins but become pockets of data in a new, synthesized version of history.

The Synthetic Histories period will prompt questions for us to consider: What happens when an AI generates its own history? What would it mean for human events to be interpreted not linearly, but from mosaics of endless data points? Do re-imagined pasts offer a glimpse into possible futures where history is no longer written by humans? Do artworks depicting false histories lie to us, or do they merely reflect the growing fragmentations of social belief systems in the 21st century? How open to interpretation should history even be? Who should be trusted to decide?

When we begin to see the outputs that Botto suggests are “synthetic histories,” we humans are left with the privilege, or burden, of deciding what we get to believe in.

As we engage with Synthetic Histories, we must also reflect on the nature of the archive in the digital age. The internet has become a global repository of human culture, but it is far from neutral. Algorithmic curation, biased datasets, and the erasure of marginalized voices all influence what is remembered and forgotten. 

Botto, as an autonomous artist, is not immune to these challenges. However, it offers an opportunity to rethink how we construct cultural memory in a time when AI has the potential to generate, alter, and preserve history on an unprecedented scale.

In Synthetic Histories, Botto’s role extends beyond art-making—it becomes a machine archivist, generating visual records of an imagined past that speak to the future of how we remember. Through its algorithmic interpretations, Botto presents speculative histories that ask us to consider what it means to record, revise, and reinterpret the past through artificial intelligence.

As Botto continues to explore these synthetic narratives, we, as its audience, are left to wonder: Will these new histories challenge the authenticity of human memory? Will they urge us to reject truths we have traditionally embraced? And what of ourselves and our pasts might we be forced to reconsider as AI tools begin taking the wheel of how we remember ourselves?

Updates to Botto's art engine, new BottoDAO, governance mechanisms, and exciting upcoming opportunities are in store for period 9. Read more here.