Speculative Ecology Atlas: An Exploratory Knowledge Network in the Age of Generative AI

This project is an open-source initiative by Cheng Mingyong (cmy868), a PhD student at UC San Diego. As a companion website to his doctoral thesis, it uses force-directed graphs to visualize art projects and concepts in three domains—"Memory", "Life", and "Embodiment"—to explore ecological thinking in the age of generative AI. Integrating academic rigor with online openness, the project uses modern web technologies to build an interactive knowledge network, offering a new paradigm for digital humanities scholarship.

Speculative ecology is a theoretical framework that reexamines ecological thinking in the age of generative AI. The project focuses on three interconnected domains:

• Memory: Exploring AI systems' "memory/forgetting", data traces and copyright disputes, collective memory reorganization, etc.
• Life: Questioning how AI changes the definition of life, the boundaries of artificial life, AI-assisted bio-art, etc.
• Embodiment: Comparing AI's disembodied intelligence with human embodied cognition, discussing virtual reality embodied experiences, digital twin proxy bodies, etc.

The tech stack uses Next.js (App Router), TypeScript, and react-force-graph-2d, supporting static export. The data architecture is concise:

• nodes.ts: Stores nodes (projects, concepts, etc.) with information like id, type, title, etc.
• links.ts: Defines relationships between nodes. Interactive features include force-directed network graphs (related nodes naturally cluster), hover highlighting, click-to-view details, drag-to-zoom, theme switching, etc., allowing users to actively navigate the knowledge space.

Deployment methods are flexible:

• GitHub Pages: One-click deployment (npm run deploy);
• Supports platforms like Netlify/Vercel, or traditional servers. The project blurs the boundary between academic papers and open-source software:
• The thesis PDF provides authority, while the living atlas evolves continuously;
• Content dataization (nodes.ts + links.ts) enables version control, with transparent and traceable updates.

Speculative ecology puts forward key viewpoints:

• AI is a technological ecosystem that interacts with data, infrastructure, etc.;
• Generative behaviors have environmental, social, and political costs and are non-neutral interventions;
• The included artworks are speculative designs that explore future possibilities. The project demonstrates a new form of academic communication: combining networked interactive exploration with the rigor of a thesis, providing a reference for digital humanities scholarship.

For researchers: You can draw on the "living academic companion" model, using open-source atlases to supplement formal theses, promoting knowledge flow and community participation. For developers: Reference modern web technologies to build knowledge visualization systems, adopt data-driven architecture (content externalized, interface as pure presentation layer), and improve system maintainability and scalability.