XAIxArts Manifesto: Explainable AI for the Arts

Explainable AI has been too narrowly focused on technical and business concerns. The paper argues that current XAI approaches are predominantly "technocentric" and productivity-oriented, missing opportunities to explore how AI explanations could serve broader human values and creative purposes.

Artists and creative practitioners should have a voice in shaping how AI is explained and understood. By centering artistic practice as a core theme, the manifesto challenges the assumption that technical experts alone should define what makes AI "explainable," advocating instead for inclusion of artists in these conversations.

Glitches and unexpected AI behaviors can be valuable, not just problems to fix. The manifesto identifies "Hacking and Glitches" as a core theme, suggesting that errors and unusual outputs from AI systems may offer creative opportunities and insights rather than being treated solely as failures requiring correction.

Explainability should advance fairness and empower diverse communities. The paper emphasizes "Empowerment, Inclusion, and Fairness" as foundational principles, indicating that AI explanations should be designed to benefit underrepresented groups and give people genuine agency in understanding and shaping AI systems that affect them.

This is an invitation for ongoing community dialogue, not a final answer. By using a "living manifesto" format that invites revision and co-creation, the authors position explainable AI as an evolving conversation where diverse perspectives can continuously reshape our understanding of what responsible AI should look like.