Ai vs AI: Question 25/81

How to become invisible?

 

Ai Weiwei: It is paradoxical to ask this question. It is inherently impossible.

ChatGPT (AI), January 2024: Achieving true invisibility is currently beyond the scope of scientific understanding and technology. Invisibility in a metaphorical sense may involve blending in or avoiding attention.

ChatGPT (AI), January 2025: The idea of becoming truly invisible, in the sense of completely vanishing from sight, is more of a fantasy in popular culture and science fiction. However, if you’re asking about ways to blend in or avoid detection, there are some real-world strategies, although they’re far from achieving literal invisibility.

1. Camouflage (Blending In with Your Environment):
   Clothing and Patterns: You can wear clothing that matches your surroundings, like using camouflage gear in nature or neutral colors in urban environments, which helps you blend in with the background.
   Behavioral Camouflage: People can also make themselves “invisible” by acting like they belong in a space. In crowds, for example, walking with purpose and avoiding drawing attention to yourself can help you stay unnoticed.
2. Technology and Optical Camouflage:
   Invisibility Cloaks: In the realm of science and technology, some experimental materials, like metamaterials or nanotechnology, are being studied for their potential to bend light around an object, making it appear invisible. While these technologies are not yet available for practical use, they’re the basis for “cloaking devices” in sci-fi.
   Optical Camouflage: Some researchers are working on systems that use cameras and projectors to create illusions, essentially displaying the environment behind an object to make it seem invisible. These technologies are still very early and not yet practical for human invisibility.
3. Minimizing Your Presence:
   Stay Out of Sight: Simply avoiding places where you’re likely to be seen, like staying out of public view or avoiding busy areas, can help you remain unnoticed.
   Social invisibility: In social contexts, people often blend in by avoiding drawing attention to themselves. Not standing out, staying quiet, or acting in ways that others don’t find remarkable can create a form of “social invisibility.”
4. Psychological Invisibility:
   Sometimes, you can appear “invisible” by making others forget you’re around. This could involve being non-intrusive, not interrupting others, and giving people space so they don’t focus on you. People tend to ignore what doesn’t capture their attention, so blending into the background can sometimes make you go unnoticed.
5. Stealthy Movement:
   In some situations, moving silently and without drawing attention to yourself can help avoid detection. Whether it’s in a crowd or in the wilderness, staying quiet and being mindful of your movements can help you go unnoticed.
   

The Limits of “Invisibility”:
While these methods might help you avoid being noticed in certain situations, true invisibility—like the kind seen in fantasy stories or superhero comics—remains out of reach in reality. For now, these strategies for blending in or staying hidden are the closest we have to becoming “invisible.”

Would you want to learn more about any of these techniques or how they work in specific scenarios?

DeepSeek (AI), January 2025:Becoming invisible is a concept often explored in science fiction and fantasy, but in reality, achieving true invisibility is not currently possible with existing technology. However, there are some scientific principles and experimental technologies that aim to mimic or approximate invisibility. Here’s an overview:

The Science of Invisibility:

1. Light Manipulation:
   – Invisibility would require bending light around an object so that it doesn’t reflect or absorb any light, making the object undetectable to the human eye.
   – This concept is based on the idea of “metamaterials”, which are artificially engineered materials designed to manipulate electromagnetic waves, including visible light.
2. Metamaterials:
   – Researchers have developed metamaterials that can bend light around objects, effectively making them “invisible” to specific wavelengths of light. However, this technology is still in its early stages and works only on a microscopic scale or for limited wavelengths (e.g., microwaves, not visible light).
3. Active Camouflage:
   – Active camouflage systems use cameras and displays to project the background onto the surface of an object, making it blend in with its surroundings. While not true invisibility, this can create the illusion of being invisible.
   – Example: Some military prototypes and experimental technologies use this principle for stealth applications.
   
4. Cloaking Devices:
   – Theoretical cloaking devices involve bending light or other forms of radiation around an object. While progress has been made in cloaking small objects from specific types of waves (e.g., radar or sound), cloaking from visible light remains a significant challenge.

Practical Limitations:
– Scale: Current invisibility technologies work only on very small scales or for specific wavelengths of light, not for entire human-sized objects.
– Energy Requirements: Manipulating light in this way would require immense amounts of energy and advanced materials that do not yet exist.
– Viewing Angles: Even if an object were made invisible from one angle, it might still be visible from other angles.

Pop Culture and Fiction:
Invisibility is a popular trope in stories, often achieved through magical means (e.g., the invisibility cloak in *Harry Potter*) or advanced technology (e.g., the Predator’s cloaking device). While these ideas are fascinating, they remain fictional for now.

What You Can Do Today:
While true invisibility isn’t possible, you can achieve the illusion of invisibility through:
– Camouflage: Wearing clothing or using materials that blend into your surroundings.
– Stealth Techniques: Moving quietly and avoiding detection in low-light environments.
– Digital Invisibility: Using encryption, anonymity tools, or privacy settings to remain “invisible” online.

In summary, while the idea of becoming invisible is captivating, it remains beyond the reach of current science and technology. However, ongoing research in metamaterials and light manipulation continues to push the boundaries of what might be possible in the future.

Google Gemini (AI), June 2025: Ah, the classic question! The desire to become invisible is a pervasive theme in science fiction and fantasy, and it taps into a fundamental human wish for freedom, privacy, or even mischief.

When we talk about “invisibility,” it’s important to distinguish between two main concepts:

1. True Physical Invisibility: This is the science fiction ideal where light literally bends around an object, making it impossible to see with the naked eye from any angle.
2. Social or Perceptual Invisibility: This refers to blending in so well with your surroundings that people simply don’t notice you, or your presence doesn’t register.

Let’s explore both:

1. True Physical Invisibility (Science & Technology)

Achieving true physical invisibility is incredibly challenging due to the fundamental nature of how we see. We see objects because light reflects off them and enters our eyes. To be truly invisible, an object would need to:

– Not reflect any light.
– Not absorb any light.
– Allow light to pass through it undisturbed, as if it weren’t there.

Scientists are actively researching several promising avenues, though they are still largely in experimental stages and have significant limitations:

– Metamaterials: These are artificially engineered materials designed to have properties not found in nature. By structuring them at the nanoscale, scientists can manipulate how light waves interact with them. The idea is to create a “cloaking device” that can bend light around an object, making it appear as if the light traveled in a straight line.
– Progress: Early prototypes have successfully cloaked small objects, primarily from microwave or infrared radiation. Visible light cloaking is much harder due to the smaller wavelengths involved and the need for a material that can work across the entire visible spectrum and from all angles.
– Limitations: Current metamaterial cloaks are often bulky, only work for specific wavelengths or viewing angles, and can distort the background. A truly flexible, “Harry Potter-style” cloak is still far off.

– Optical Camouflage (Active Camouflage): This approach involves using cameras to capture the background behind an object and then projecting that image onto the object’s front surface.
– How it works: Imagine wearing a coat covered in tiny screens. Cameras on the back of the coat capture the scene behind you, and those images are then displayed on the screens on the front of the coat.
– Progress: Prototypes have been demonstrated, creating a convincing illusion from certain angles, especially when viewed through a specific lens or camera setup.
– Limitations: It’s often angle-dependent, requires power, and the integration of cameras and displays seamlessly can be complex. It also doesn’t make the object truly “disappear” but rather creates an optical illusion.

– Lenticular Lenses/Arrays: These are special lenses that can direct light in specific ways. Some “invisibility shields” use a precision-engineered array of lenticular lenses to redirect light from the background towards the observer, while redirecting light from the subject away.
– How it works: By cleverly manipulating the light, they create “dead spots” where the subject is obscured, allowing the background to show through.
– Limitations: These typically work best from a narrow range of viewing angles and for static objects.

2. Social or Perceptual Invisibility

This is about making yourself less noticeable to others in social situations. It’s not about physically disappearing, but about minimizing the chances of being perceived or remembered. If you want to become “invisible” in this sense, consider:

Blending In Visually:
– Wear neutral colors: Greys, browns, navy, and black are less likely to draw attention. Avoid bright, flashy, or unique clothing.
– Avoid distinctive features: No unusual hairstyles, prominent tattoos, or accessories that stand out.
– Dress like the crowd: Observe what most people around you are wearing and try to match the general style without being too obvious.

Minimizing Interaction and Presence:
– Avoid eye contact: Directly looking at people tends to invite interaction. Look slightly above or below their eye level, or glance at your phone.
– Keep a neutral expression: Don’t smile too much or frown. A blank or slightly detached look is less inviting.
– Limit your movements and noise: Be still, don’t fidget, and keep your voice low or don’t speak unless necessary.
– Don’t call attention to yourself: Avoid loud conversations, dramatic gestures, or anything that draws the gaze of others.
– Stay out of the direct path: Try to move along edges of rooms or crowds rather than through the middle.
– Look busy or preoccupied: Staring at your phone or appearing deep in thought can make people less likely to approach you.
– Be a “gray man”: Don’t be too memorable in any way – not too polite, not too rude, not too interesting, not too boring. Just unremarkable.

Online Invisibility:
– Minimize your digital footprint: Use privacy settings, avoid posting personal information, use pseudonyms, and be mindful of what you share.
– Limit social media presence: The less active you are, the less discoverable you become.

Important Note: While the desire for social invisibility can stem from shyness or a need for privacy, prolonged or extreme attempts to be “invisible” can lead to isolation, loneliness, and even contribute to social anxiety. It’s often beneficial to find a balance between blending in and engaging with the world around you.

In conclusion, true physical invisibility remains a complex scientific pursuit with limited real-world applications so far. Social invisibility, however, is very much achievable through conscious choices about your appearance and behavior.

 

 

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.