We are pleased to share that Edinburgh Futures Institute student MSc Narrative Futures student, Beth Tianxin Xia, is one of three commissioned artists whose works are included in “Drawing the Line: An RAI Exhibition” on display at City Arts – Nottingham from January to February 2026.
The “Drawing the Line” exhibition is part of the “ARTificial Intelligence: Show Me a Story exhibition about AI” research project led by the ARTificial Intelligence (ART-I) Project at the University of Nottingham, funded by Responsible AI UK.
For this project, artists around the UK were invited to submit proposals responding to the provocative question: “Where do you draw the line?” in relation to using AI in creative practice.
Beth submitted a proposal for her art project, “Seven Pigeons,” a series of seven black-and-white digital artworks that Beth interpreted from ChatGPT prompts.
For her project, Beth created a custom version of ChatGPT, instructing it to write a paragraph about how an “abstract entity” in between two certain objects would perceive a pigeon.
Beth then interpreted the AI-generated text into the digital illustrations showcased in the exhibition.
The AI texts are physically present in the exhibition, both as printed letters and as interactive sound mechanisms.
Beth said:
“This project explores how an artist can interact with a large language model in unusual ways. More specifically, I want to explore the machine nature of AI.”
Alongside the launch of exhibition, Beth also took part in a panel discussion with fellow artists included in the project.
Videos showcasing the artwork will also be exhibited at Nottingham Central Library from February to April 2026.
Beth said that her project was heavily informed by the Ethical Data Futures module, included in her MSc Narrative Futures programme at Edinburgh Futures Institute.
“Ethical Data Futures introduced me to how GenAI works and the ethical problems around it. It also allowed me to articulate what I think about AI. When I was writing the proposal for the project, I felt confident that I knew what I was talking about.”
When asked how the MSc Narrative Futures programme is helping her think through complex questions about AI and society, Beth said:
I am inspired by many courses in the programme. “World of Stories” introduced me to early machine-written stories, “Narratives of Digital Capitalism” provided me with readings that are focused on artists who work with emerging technology in disruptive ways. Access to the Makerspace at the Futures Institute have enabled me to print 3D boxes, with the help of Specialist Technician, Peter Bentley. I feel that I’m thinking more critically and holistically, and I can draw from different disciplines when thinking about complex questions around AI and society.”
You can find out more about Beth’s creative work in this video presentation.
