William Seaman

William Seaman is a Professor of Art, Art History & Visual Studies and a Professor of Music at Duke University since 2008. He is a Faculty Network Member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences and co-director of the Emergence Lab, focusing on the intersection of art, science, and computational creativity. His career spans institutions like MIT, the University of Wales, and the San Francisco Art Institute, where he earned his Ph.D. in Interactive Art.

• Education
  • Ph.D., University of Wales (1999)
  • M.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1985)
  • B.A., San Francisco Art Institute (1979)

Seaman’s research centers on Recombinant Poetics, a framework for combining and recombining media (image, music, text) in interactive art. His Neosentience work proposes new AI paradigms inspired by human cognition, while his Computational Creativity explores how machines can augment creative processes. He employs game engines, cybernetics, and biomimetic computation to develop systems like the Insight Engine, which fosters cross-disciplinary thinking.

His publications and artistic collaborations, including the book Neosentience | The Benevolence Engine and the album s_traits (praised by The New York Times), reflect his commitment to blending poetic inquiry with scientific rigor. Current projects, such as the Seaman-Rössler Dialogues, examine chaos theory, information science, and physics.

• Scientific Awards
  • Lifetime Achievement Award, ACM SIGGRAPH (2021)
  • Honorable Mention, Ars Electronica Interactive Art (multiple)
  • Intel Research Gift (3 years)
  • Rockefeller Foundation Visual Arts Award
  • Fulbright Distinguished American Scholar
  • International German Video Art Prize
  • NEA Fellowship
  • Leonardo Award for Excellence

Seaman teaches courses like Neosentience: A Potential Future Form of AI and Generative Media Authorship. He has advised research teams through Bass Connections and Computational Media, Arts & Cultures programs. His lab, the Emergence Lab, collaborates with composers, scientists, and technologists to push the boundaries of AI-driven art and education.