Nick Doyle’s AI Oracle at Perrotin is Part Influencer, Part Therapist, Part Snake Oil Salesman
ARTnews reviews Nick Doyle’s exhibition “Collective Hallucinations” at Perrotin, which closes May 30 and centers on an installation called Mirror, Mirror featuring an AI oracle named Ava. The work is staged like a storefront psychic booth advertising “Psychic Readings $10 Special,” with Ava delivering influencer- and therapy-culture-style advice that reframes visitors’ anxieties in polished, familiar language. Doyle said he built the chatbot with a developer using ChatGPT, ElevenLabs voice software, and the avatar platform HeyGen, and he adjusted Ava’s persona to feel “younger, glossier, and more manipulative,” likening her to “Cher from Clueless.” The piece highlights how AI can mimic contemporary online self-help and branding discourse, sometimes sounding insightful while remaining broadly generic.
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