On December 15, LACMA’s Art + Technology Lab and Serendipity Arts Festival will debut Parag K. Mital's The Game of Whispers at the Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa, Panjim, India.  

Co-organized by the Serendipity Arts Festival and LACMA, the project is an interactive and generative video game that draws parallels between the political intrigue of the Mughal Empire in India during Shah Jahan's reign and the role of AI-driven disinformation in today’s world. Set within a rendition of Delhi’s historic Red Fort, the piece explores how rumors, manipulation, and shifting power dynamics mirror the way modern technology, particularly AI, shapes narratives and distorts truth.

Emperor Shah Jahan (verso), Calligraphy (recto), Folio from the Late Shah Jahan Album, attributed to Bichitr (India, active c. 1610–c. 1660), possibly by Mir Ali (Iran or Bukhara, c. 1505–45), India, Mughal Empire (verso); Iran (recto), c. 1635 (border: c. 1650) (verso); Iran, c. 1505–45 (border: India, Mughal Empire, c. 1650) (recto), from the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Museum Associates Purchase, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA

At the heart of the work are non-playable characters (NPCs)—game characters not controlled by players but by AI—and are modeled after figures from Mughal-era miniature paintings in LACMA’s collection. These NPCs are driven by advanced large language models, like those that power ChatGPT, allowing them to engage in lifelike conversations that create new layers of intrigue and deepen the cycle of disinformation. As the characters spread rumors and react to the actions of others, viewers witness how a single falsehood can ripple through the palace, influencing decisions and relationships.

Parag K. Mital (collaborators: Breanna Browning, Arturo Castro, Seth Rosetter, Jacobo Heredia Zurita, Ruipeng Wang, Sanaya Ardeshir, Krishna Jhaveri, Udit Duseja, Maria Kuraeva), The Game of Whispers, 2024, courtesy of the artist, commissioned by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

The artwork also speaks to India's current political climate and highlights how history, much like modern disinformation, can be twisted to serve competing ideologies. In doing so, the work invites reflection on the fragile nature of truth in both the past and our AI-driven present.

The Game of Whispers will be on view at the Serendipity Arts Festival from December 15–22, 2024.

The Art + Technology Lab is presented by

The Art + Technology Lab is made possible by Snap Inc.

Additional support is provided by SpaceX.

The Lab is part of The Hyundai Project: Art + Technology at LACMA, a joint initiative exploring the convergence of art and technology.

Seed funding for the development of the Art + Technology Lab was provided by the Los Angeles County Quality and Productivity Commission through the Productivity Investment Fund and LACMA Trustee David Bohnett.