1 the Road is a book written using a car as a pen.

Ross Goodwin is a data poet. In 2017, he outfitted a Cadillac sedan with a surveillance camera, a GPS unit, a microphone and a clock, all connected to a portable AI writing machine that fed from these input data in real time.

Together, they traveled from New York to New Orleans, a journey of over 1,000 miles, in an experimental automation of the American literary road trip. As they drove, a manuscript emerged line by line from the machine’s printer on long scrolls of thermal paper that filled the car’s rear seats over the course of their journey.

Rooted in the traditions of American literature, gonzo journalism, and the latest research in artificial neural networks, 1 the Road imposes a new reflection on the place and authority of the author in a new era of machines.

In May 2023, Goodwin iterated on his initial experiment, this time on the streets of Versailles, France, using the vintage Porsche 911 of aurèce vettier.

See the artist's post here.

Advances in language AI since the project’s inception should result in a more cohesive, sensical manuscript. However, as with all experimental work, the proof lies in the differential between hypothesis and outcome.

1 the Road’s 2023 iteration takes AI writing on an extended journey into the unknown—its destination: further.