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Counter-Haunting

/ˈkaʊn.tər ˈhɔːn.tɪŋ/ Critical Practice 2025.
Definition A critical practice that uses the generative capabilities of AI to summon marginalized, erased, or suppressed narratives from the latent space. While Cultural Ghost Hunting is often aesthetic or playful, Counter-Haunting is political and restorative.

Haunting the Algoithm

AI models are trained on the internet, and thus inherit the internet's biases—its racism, sexism, and Eurocentrism. The "default" output of a model is a reflection of hegemonic power. Counter-Haunting disrupts this by deliberately prompting for the "negative space" of the dataset.

It asks: "What stories were present in the data but statistically drowned out by the dominant culture?" By amplifying these faint signals, Counter-Haunting forces the model to tell a different history.

Field Note: We use the machine to dream the dreams that the machine's creators tried to repress.
Primary Source Jefferson, J., & Velasco, F. (2026). Excavating the Infinite Apocrypha: Spectral Bytes, AI Hallucination, and Shadow-Culture in the Age of Latent Space. Unearth Heritage Foundry.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18502073
Stratigraphy (Related Concepts)
Cultural Ghost Hunting Shadow Library Algorithmic Bias Restorative Justice