Misalignment Museum
| Established | 2023 |
|---|---|
| Location | San Francisco |
| Type | Art and technology museum |
Manager | Audrey Kim |
| Website | misalignmentmuseum |
The Misalignment Museum displayed art pieces about artificial intelligence and its impacts, with some interactive exhibits.[1] The exhibits in the spring of 2023 provided a window into some versions of a post-apocalyptic world where misaligned AI has destroyed most of humanity, but corrects itself before wiping everybody out and creates the museum to memorialize civilization.[2][3][4]
During its initial eight-week popup run in early 2023 in the Mission District of San Francisco,[5] the museum showcased somewhat more optimistic visions upstairs and more dystopian visions downstairs.[3] Founder and curator Audrey Kim expressed hope that the museum would inspire those building the technologies to think more carefully about the implications of their work[4] and also make

those conversations about AI dangers more accessible to the average person.[6] The museum then ran another popular pop-up at the Chase Center in Mission Bay starting in September of that year[7][8] and ending in August 2024.[9] The museum was set to reopen in February 2025 and evolve to focus less on visions of the future and more on education and sparking questions and conversations.[5] As of August 2026, the museum was closed to the public but renting out art pieces for events.[10]
Exhibits
[edit]"Paperclip Embrace" is made up of 15,000 paperclips and references Nick Bostrom's paperclip maximizer problem, a 2003 thought experiment about what could go wrong if an artificial intelligence was instructed to make paperclips without enough safeguards.[11][5][12]

"The Infinite Conversation" is a continuous conversation between AI-generated models of Werner Herzog and Slavo Žižek.[13][14][2]
"SPAMBOTS" is a piece by Neil Mendoza where several tins of Spam are typing with their four robot arms on individual keys to create a novel about caste systems for pigs.[12][15][5][16]
Other exhibits include AI-generated paintings by Grimes,[5] a framed tweet by Dustin Moskovitz about effective altruism,[3] and a piano playing music composed by bacteria.[3]
Reception
[edit]
Mission Local said the museum was "at times funny, at times chilling".[4]
SFGate said the museum was a warning from the future, where visitors were encouraged to think critically and creatively about the implications of AI.[12]
The San Francisco Standard said the pop-up museum combined 'an apocalyptic premise' with 'beauty and whimsy'.[1]
Eric Dimond, the senior director of exhibits at the Exploratorium, praised the use of art to explore the concept of AI.[17]
On Tripadvisor, the museum received an average of 5.0 stars over its first 176 reviews between September 2023 and August 2024.[9]
See also
[edit]External links
[edit]- Official website
- 990s on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer
- Video segments
- March 27, 2023 on KTVU
- April 11, 2023 on Associated Press via USA Today and Internet Archive
- June 10, 2023 on BBC via X.com
References
[edit]- 1 2 Campodonico, Christina (2023-04-28). "Is Artificial Intelligence Good or Evil? Bay Area Museums Want You To Decide". The San Francisco Standard. Retrieved 2026-08-23.
- 1 2 "At San Francisco expo, AI 'sorry' for destroying humanity". Agence France-Presse via France 24. 2023-03-12. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
- 1 2 3 4 Johnson, Khari (2023-03-03). "Welcome to the Museum of the Future AI Apocalypse". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2026-08-23.
- 1 2 3 Egitto, Daniel (2023-03-05). "Mission's Misalignment Museum spotlights AI risks". Mission Local. Retrieved 2026-09-11.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Griffith, Erin (2024-11-13). "Stand-Up, Drama and Spambots: The Creative World Takes On A.I." The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-08-23.
- ↑ Verma, Kavita (March 13, 2023). "Controversial Exhibit: AI says "sorry" for wiping out humanity". Interesting Engineering. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
- ↑ "Thrive City Announces Misalignment Museum Grand Opening". Chase Center. August 11, 2023. Retrieved 2026-08-26.
- ↑ "Get To Know: Misalignment Museum". Chase Center. September 30, 2023. Retrieved 2026-08-26.
- 1 2 "Misalignment Ai Museum". Tripadvisor. Retrieved August 23, 2026.
- ↑ "Misalignment Museum – Learn about and reflect on the possibilities of AI technology". misalignmentmuseum.com. Retrieved 2026-08-26.
- ↑ Leswing, Kif (2023-03-20). "In San Francisco, some people wonder when A.I. will kill us all". CNBC. Retrieved 2026-08-23.
- 1 2 3 Council, Stephen (2023-03-20). "A buzzy SF museum reckons with tech's eerie future". SFGATE. Retrieved 2026-08-23.
- ↑ Cornall, Flo (2023-05-23). "These museums showcase the future, not the past". CNN. Retrieved 2026-08-23.
- ↑ Miceli, Giacomo (2023-04-01). "What an Endless Conversation with Werner Herzog Can Teach Us about AI". Scientific American. Retrieved 2026-08-23.
- ↑ Plimmer, Joe (2023-03-12). "Sunset in Gaza and an elephant festival: the weekend's best photos". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-08-23.
- ↑ Dickey, Megan Rose. "Misalignment Museum in San Francisco explores AI's implications". Axios. Archived from the original on 2023-03-08. Retrieved 2026-09-13.
- ↑ Fried, Ina (2025-09-10). "This museum exhibit on AI prompts hard questions". Axios. Retrieved 2026-08-23.