Hidden Layer Interaction: A Technique to Explore the Material of Generative AI

This pictorial describes the process of developing an interaction technique for directly engaging with the hidden layers of a generative AI model for image synthesis. First, we give some background to generative AI in HCI, arguing that current interaction techniques prevent us from directly interacting with the material of AI, foreclosing its use in design. Drawing on inspiration from the Computer Science field of feature visualization, we investigate the materiality of our prototype, a GAN model trained to generate fashion imagery, and show how Hidden Layer Interaction offers an alternative to standard prompting. In doing so, we illustrate how this change in approach leads to new forms of interaction with the internal semantics of generative AI, and demonstrate how one might use Hidden Layer Interaction to engage with AI as a material in design.