# Beyond the Machine **Author:** Frank Chimero **Published:** 20 October 2025 **Length:** Long-form illustrated talk (reading time unavailable) ## In Summary Designer Frank Chimero proposes treating generative AI as an _instrument_ requiring skill, judgement and creative practice, rather than a shortcut that replaces them. Contrasting Rick Rubin’s association with ‘vibe coding’, Brian Eno’s generative systems and Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst’s work on consent and model training, he explores different relationships between artists and machines. Through a reading of _Spirited Away_, he questions technological appetite, imitation and extraction, arguing for boundaries, collaboration and a stronger sense of what technology should serve. **Source:** [https://frankchimero.com/blog/2025/beyond-the-machine/](https://frankchimero.com/blog/2025/beyond-the-machine/) ## What might this mean for us? Could Higher Education teach emerging technologies as instruments to be practised, questioned and shaped, rather than services that simply deliver results? Chimero’s emphasis on craft, collaboration and limits resonates with Electric Dreams’ discipline-led workshops and work on agency. How might creative curricula distinguish useful automation from the productive friction through which students develop judgement and distinctive practices? ## Links in this reading - [The Shape of Design, Frank Chimero](https://shapeofdesignbook.com/) - [The Way of Code, Rick Rubin and Anthropic](https://www.thewayofcode.com/) - [Music for Airports, interactive recreation by Tero Parviainen](https://teropa.info/) - [Oblique Strategies, Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt](https://enoshop.co.uk/) - [Spawning, Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst](https://spawning.ai/) - [Public Diffusion](https://source.plus/) - [xhairymutantx, Whitney Museum](https://whitney.org/) - [The Call, Serpentine Galleries](https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/)