Navigating the manifold: A transformative approach to AI image generation.

MacCall, Alec D · Patterns (N Y) · 2026

Where this comes from

Abstract

Using an external starting image and sparse action prompts, Transformative AI treats image generation as iterative navigation through an irregular, high-dimensional manifold. This user-guided process preserves expressive development and explores regions apparently inaccessible to text-to-image workflows. I illustrate this with an example and compare it to a text-to-image equivalent.