AIZI / AI字 / 爱字

“AIZI” is an interdisciplinary research project aimed at developing an AI-based tool to facilitate the design of Chinese characters (hanzi), addressing the unique challenges posed by the complexity and vastness of the Chinese writing system.

Unlike Latin alphabets, which require the design of about 400–700 glyphs for a complete typeface, a single family of Chinese characters needs at least 6.763 glyphs for daily use, with historical dictionaries listing up to 106.230 hanzi.

This enormous volume makes the creation of new Chinese typefaces a labor-intensive process, often inaccessible to independent designers.

The AIZI project tackles this challenge using Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), a machine learning technique where two algorithms compete to improve each other.

The AI is trained to generate new glyphs starting from a limited set of base characters, leveraging the systematic nature of Chinese writing, which combines a finite number of radicals to form new characters.

AIZI represents a significant step toward the integration of artificial intelligence into type design, promoting accessibility and innovation in the creation of Chinese characters.