Preliminary Explorations of Generative AI and the Embodied Embroidery of Huayao Intangible Cultural Heritage

Generative AI (GenAI) offers opportunities to preserve and more widely share Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), whilst at the same time bringing risks of misrepresenting, misappropriating, homogenizing, and devaluing ICH. To explore how artisans undertake embodied craft practice with GenAI fine-tuned on their own ICH and how GenAI might contribute to the future of ICH we report on a preliminary analysis of a cross-cultural collaboration between researcher-designers and Huayao minority culture embroiderers in rural China. Three GenAI workflows are explored through co-creation and in-situ making of new embroidery pieces. Initial analysis of reflective feedback suggests that GenAI has the potential to enhance creativity and support innovation within cultural norms and sensibilities, but that human creativity, manual refinement, and local nuance remain key to successfully embracing GenAI for Intangible Cultural Heritage.