Ai vs AI: Question 16/81

Can you describe a sunset using only numbers?

Ai Weiwei: Unless we assert that numbers have the capacity to articulate anything including a sunset, numbers are incapable of expressing it.

ChatGPT (AI), January 2024: Providing a numerical description of a sunset is challenging as it is a sensory and visual experience that cannot be fully captured by numbers alone.

ChatGPT (AI), January 2025: Sure! Here’s a description of a sunset using only numbers:

19:00 – The sun begins its descent toward the horizon.
1,000 – The sky is illuminated by the soft hues of orange, pink, and purple as the sun lowers.
50 – The temperature drops slightly as the evening cools.
30 – Minutes pass as the sun nears its final moments before setting.
10 – The final rays of sunlight stretch across the sky, casting long shadows.
0 – The sun disappears below the horizon, leaving a twilight glow.
Would you like me to elaborate with more numbers or add anything else?

DeepSeek (AI), January 2025: Describing a sunset purely with numbers is a creative challenge! While numbers alone can’t capture the full beauty and emotion of a sunset, they can represent certain aspects of it. Here’s an attempt:
Coordinates: 34.0522° N, 118.2437° W (for example, a sunset in Los Angeles)
Time: 18:45 – 19:15 (duration of the sunset)
Colors:
– Red: 650 nm (wavelength of red light dominating the horizon)
– Orange: 600 nm
– Yellow: 580 nm
– Purple: 400 nm (shorter wavelengths scattering in the upper atmosphere)

*Temperature: 22°C (ambient temperature during the sunset)
*Sun’s Angle: 0° – 6° (angle above the horizon as the sun sets)
*Cloud Coverage: 30% (partly cloudy skies enhancing the colors)
*Duration of Twilight: 30 minutes (time between sunset and complete darkness)

While these numbers provide a scientific and measurable perspective, they can’t fully convey the awe and emotion of a sunset. Sometimes, words, art, or personal experience are needed to truly capture its essence!

To coincide with the exhibition, 81 Questions – a series of 81 hand-signed and embossed screen prints featuring the 81 questions posed by Ai Weiwei – are available exclusively on CIRCA.ART for £500+VAT.

“Each Lego brick pixel represents a person”, says Ai Weiwei, who incorporates the plastic construction toy – a readymade material incorporated into many of his most recent works – into his print design for the first time. The black egalitarian pixel font and embossed baseplate combine technology with artisanal craft to create this thought-provoking and playful reflection on today’s world. Each print in the series of 81 Questions is hand-signed and numbered by the artist in editions of 81.