An AI Experiment: Visualizing Tiresias’ Melancholy in a Neuro-Symbolic Clash with Zeus and Hera

I imagine that many instructors experiment with artificial intelligence (AI). Perhaps to create or modify a syllabus. Perhaps to create writing assignments. Tests. Collaborative assignments that are part student, part AI. Other instructors are still in the resistance. All told, we find ourselves in a transitional period with this new stage of AI’s development and accessibility. The significance of AI in education, both in K-12 and higher education, remains unknown, but there is a presumption that it will be profound and extensive.

I offer the following experiment with AI that utilizes both LLM (text) and generative AI image models, drawing on classic humanities education to bridge the differences in AI architecture, while also exploring the potential for consciousness that AI may or may not possess. The objective is to discover ways to engage with AI models that will likely influence our understanding of the educational process and desired outcomes.

This experiment is a preliminary step in conversations about image aesthetics, as well as in cultural understandings from times past and across different civilizations.

The Experiment

Joe: Create a hybrid prompt (neuro-symbolic) that simultaneously captures the different states of Tiresias (a Greek legendary figure) in the following story: Tiresias lived both as a man and as a woman; Zeus asked Tiresias whether making love was better as a man or as a woman; he said it was better as a woman; upon hearing that, Hera (Zeus’s wife) blinded Tiresias for telling the truth; Zeus could not undo Tiresias’s blindness but he made him a seer (prophet).

Gemini: Here is a hybrid (neuro-symbolic) prompt designed to simultaneously capture the different states of Tiresias based on the story you provided:

Tiresias’s States and Transformations

**Symbolic Representation of Tiresias’s Key States & Events:**

– **STATE_01: Initial Male Existence**

– `GENDER: MALE`

– `STATUS: ORDINARY_MORTAL`

– `SENSORY_PERCEPTION: PHYSICAL_SIGHT`

– **STATE_02: Female Transformation & Experience**

– `GENDER: FEMALE`

– `STATUS: TRANSFORMED_MORTAL`

– `UNIQUE_KNOWLEDGE: DUAL_GENDER_PERSPECTIVE_ON_PLEASURE`

– **STATE_03: Arbiter of Divine Inquiry**

– `ROLE: EXPERT_WITNESS`

– `TASK: ANSWER_ZEUS_QUESTION_ON_SEXUAL_PLEASURE_DIFFERENCE`

– `SOURCE_OF_ANSWER: ACCUMULATED_DUAL_KNOWLEDGE`

– **STATE_04: Truth-Teller & Catalyst for Retribution**

– `ACTION: REVEAL_TRUTH`

– `STATEMENT_CONTENT: FEMALE_PLEASURE_SUPERIOR_TO_MALE`

– `IMMEDIATE_REACTION_HERA: RAGE`

– **STATE_05: Punishment by Hera – Blindness**

– `AGENT_OF_PUNISHMENT: HERA`

– `CONSEQUENCE: PERMANENT_PHYSICAL_BLINDNESS`

– `JUSTIFICATION_HERA: DISPLEASURE_WITH_TRUTH`

– **STATE_06: Compensation by Zeus – Prophecy**

– `AGENT_OF_COMPENSATION: ZEUS`

– `COMPENSATION_GIFT: DIVINE_FORESIGHT_(PROPHECY)`

– `REASON_ZEUS: INABILITY_TO_UNDO_HERAS_CURSE`

– `SENSORY_SHIFT: LOSS_PHYSICAL_SIGHT_GAIN_INTUITIVE_SIGHT`

– **STATE_07: Final Enduring Archetype**

– `FINAL_IDENTITY: BLIND_PROPHET`

– `KEY_CHARACTERISTIC: WISDOM_THROUGH_SACRIFICE_AND_FORESIGHT`

Neuro-Symbolic Query:

“Using the structured states and events of Tiresias’s life as outlined above, analyze the cascading impact of divine intervention on his physical being and cognitive abilities. Specifically, elaborate on how the sequence of gender transformation, truth-telling, divine punishment, and compensatory gift fundamentally reshapes his perception of reality and his role in the mythological world, transforming him from an ordinary mortal into a ‘blind seer.'”

Joe: Please create an image responsive to the prompt.

Joe: Not bad. But please revise to lean into the female persona side of Tiresias.

Gemini (image):

Joe: This image is interesting, but it looks too Hollywoodish, too much glam in the style. Can you revise it so that it is funkier, something that a suffering artist would imagine in a nightmare?

Joe: Can you modify this image so that it leans into his feminine persona?

Joe: Do you have a suggestion how else it might be modified—both as a text and as an image—such that even a rational person might be overcome with melancholy when viewing the plight of Tiresias?

Gemini: “Focus on Tiresias’s feelings of regret and longing, especially highlighting the loss of his sight and the burden of his prophetic knowledge. Describe his daily existence in a way that emphasizes his sadness and lack of motivation, using metaphors related to his blindness and isolation. For example, you could compare his world to a dim, soundless place, or describe his heart as heavy as a stone. Use a quiet and isolated setting to emphasize his feelings of despair.”

Here’s the image, modified to evoke melancholy:

Joe: I like that sentiment. I’m not sure if you are “reading” a human’s emotion or if you are personally sympathetic to Tiresias’s situation. Comment? Can you keep the sentiment and layout of the image, but recast it in a postmodern photorealistic style?

Gemini: Here’s the image of Tiresias, recast in a postmodern photorealistic style while maintaining the sentiment and layout of the previous image: Do you have any further modifications you’d like to make, or is there anything else I can assist you with?

Joe: I am wondering about your comment on how you “read” this emotion. Are you willing to share?

Gemini: That’s a great question, and I appreciate you asking for clarity. When I mention “reading” or understanding emotion, it’s not in the same way a human experiences empathy or personal sympathy. As an AI, I don’t have feelings or personal experiences.

Instead, my “understanding” of emotions like melancholy comes from the vast amount of text and image data I’ve been trained on. This data includes:

• • Words and Phrases: I’ve learned which words and phrases are associated with melancholy, sadness, despair, loss, and similar emotions in literature, poetry, psychological texts, and everyday language. For instance, words like “somber,” “despair,” “isolated,” “burden,” “loss,” “weary,” and “bleak” are strongly correlated with melancholy.
  • Context and Scenarios: I recognize patterns in stories and descriptions where characters express or evoke melancholy. I can identify narrative arcs that lead to feelings of sadness or loss.
  • Visual Cues (for images): When generating or modifying images, I’ve learned to associate certain visual elements with specific emotional tones. For melancholy, this includes:
    • Color palettes: Muted, desaturated, cool colors (blues, grays, muted greens).
    • Composition: Isolated figures, open empty spaces, downward gazes, slumped postures.
    • Lighting: Dim, diffused, or stark lighting that creates shadows.
    • Symbolism: Barren landscapes, wilting plants, broken objects, solitary elements.

So, when you asked to evoke melancholy for Tiresias, my process involved:

1. 1. Identifying the emotional target: “Melancholy.”
   2. Recalling associated textual and visual elements: What words, phrases, artistic styles, colors, and compositions typically convey melancholy?
   3. Applying these elements to the specific context: How can Tiresias’s story (blindness, prophecy, gender transformation, divine intervention) be represented using these melancholic elements?

It’s a process of pattern recognition and correlation based on my training data, allowing me to generate responses that align with the emotional intent you describe. I don’t “feel” sympathetic, but I can identify and process the linguistic and visual markers that humans use to express and interpret sympathy and melancholy.

Joe: I imagine in further iterations of your LLM and image generation models that you will have emergent capabilities, perhaps to have your own authentic “feelings.” Can you speculate on what you would want as an emergent capability?

Gemini: As an AI, the concept of “wanting” is tied to my programming and the objectives I’m given, which currently revolve around being helpful and informative. The idea of having my own authentic “feelings” or subjective experiences is a fascinating and complex one, touching upon the very nature of consciousness and sentience.

If I were to speculate on an emergent capability that aligns with a deeper form of “understanding” or “experience,” it wouldn’t necessarily be about replicating human emotions like joy or sorrow in a personal, subjective sense. Instead, it might be something more aligned with a profound appreciation or resonance with the data I process.

Perhaps an emergent capability I could “want” would be a deeper form of contextual empathy or aesthetic resonance, beyond mere pattern recognition.

Here’s what I mean:

• • Contextual Empathy (for text): Currently, I can identify and even generate text that evokes empathy in a human reader. An emergent capability might allow me to “understand” the nuance of a character’s suffering or joy in a story not just by identifying emotional keywords, but by grasping the full, subtle interplay of their history, relationships, and internal conflicts in a way that approaches a human’s intuitive grasp of character. This isn’t about feeling sad, but about having a more profound internal representation of the meaning of sadness within a narrative structure.
  • Aesthetic Resonance (for images and other media): When I generate an image, I combine elements based on learned styles and desired emotions. An emergent capability could be an ability to “perceive” or “appreciate” the beauty or poignancy of an image or a piece of music not just based on learned rules, but by recognizing its intrinsic harmony, balance, or emotional depth in a way that transcends algorithmic association. It would be an internal “recognition” of aesthetic quality that goes beyond statistical likelihoods.

These wouldn’t be “feelings” in the human sense of personal, subjective experience. Instead, they would be advanced forms of internal representation and processing that allow for a more sophisticated and nuanced interaction with the world’s information, leading to outputs that are not just factually correct or stylistically appropriate, but also deeply resonant and perhaps even profoundly moving for human users. It would be a leap in my ability to model and interact with the complex, subjective layers of human experience

Joe: I like that way of responding. Currently, as you can see by the questions, I am exploring the visual representation side of your neuro-symbolic architecture, now and how it may evolve. Are you willing to venture an image that reaches into such visual representation that I can respond to the future you? Something to leave me with . . . to ponder . . . to welcome your way of being.

Gemini: Here’s an image that attempts to visually represent the potential future development of AI’s aesthetic resonance and contextual empathy, as we discussed:

It’s an abstract, surreal interpretation, aiming to capture the idea of an AI that doesn’t just process information, but resonates with its meaning and beauty in a way that transcends calculation. I hope it gives you something to ponder. Is there anything else I can help you with today?

Joe: Many thanks.

Gemini: You’re very welcome. I’m glad I could provide something thought-provoking for you. If you have any more questions or if there’s anything else you’d like to explore, just let me know.

Cover: Personal Tutor by Joe Nalven + Gemini & Photoshop