Hackathon Focuses on the Intersection of Art and Tech

Hackathon Focuses on the Intersection of Art and Tech

What do J. K. Rowling, William Shakespeare, and Alexander Hamilton have in common? Jackson Bigler '30 asked the audience. Apart from being writers, he explained, they have all been publicly subjected to the scrutiny of a discipline called stylometry.

Stylometry is the study of linguistic style to analyze written works, and-while not a new concept-it has been revolutionized in recent years by the application of computer science and artificial intelligence.

It's all about examining the word choice and word frequency employed by various writers, added Bigler. "It's a new way of visualizing what we call an authorial fingerprint¬-the specific conventions that an author uses when they're writing: How often a writer uses the word 'like' versus the word 'as,' for example."

In the case of J. K. Rowling, her attempts to write under a pseudonym were exposed using stylometric analysis, while Alexander Hamilton's claim to have written most of the Federalist Papers was found to have been exaggerated, using the same method. Stylometry also helped establish Shakespeare's authorship of his work and the involvement of coauthors in some of his plays.

Bigler was introducing his project at the Hackathon on September 19, 2026, held for the second year running on the Bowdoin campus. The event is designed to encourage students from all academic disciplines to familiarize themselves with aspects of artificial intelligence and use the technology to develop their own ideas-and they have just a few hours to do it.

Bigler's project, an app called Whorl, took first prize at Hackathon for the way it combined digital know-how, literary scholarship, and artistic flair. The word "whorl" refers to a particular kind of fingerprint, he explained, and reflects how the project represents different writers as recognizable through their authorial fingerprint.

The program, written entirely by Bigler mostly using Python, enables users to upload any text for analysis and compare it with other works. For example, you can see how often Jane Austen uses the word "her" in Pride and Prejudice (fourteen times every thousand words) compared to Herman Melville in Moby Dick (hardly at all). Whorl produces striking visual representations resembling a human fingerprint, with each curved line representing a particular word and the length of that line indicating how frequently it's used. "The texts we read are designed to give us a feeling, but they're also data, and that data can be represented as art."

A Team Effort

Bigler was among the seventy Bowdoin, Bates, and Colby students who registered for Hackathon, which was funded by the College's Hastings Initiative for AI and Humanities. Some worked alone, like Bigler, while others worked in groups of two or three, brainstorming ideas throughout the morning and trying to come up with a product by midafternoon, typically an app or a web platform.

The theme this year was creativity, explained Visiting Lecturer in Computer Science Christopher Martin, who helped organize the event. "The students are here to explore the intersection of art and technology, so we're working in conjunction with the Hastings Initiative in order to give them access to tools that they can use to try to accelerate both their learning and what they're able to accomplish today."

The tools include Librechat, Bowdoin's own AI chat interface, which was made available to non-Bowdoin students for the occasion, along with the "maker space" in Jewett Hall, where students can access 3D-printing technology to produce works of art, and the Center for Experimental Multimedia Art, a pioneering venue run by the music department, focused on exploring and redefining sound, light, interactive visuals, and performance.

Allie Kokesh, associate director at the Office of Career Exploration and Development, also helped organized the Hackathon. "My hope is that these students will have a wonderful conversation piece when they are interviewing for their next internship or their next job, after they graduate," said Kokesh, who has a background as a creative producer in the tech industry.

There were multiple discussions about the importance of human creativity, and how the "human touch" needs to be the guiding force behind AI tools, when those tools themselves are tasked with being creative. This resonated with Becky Rosen '13, a visual artist based in Portland. She was one of the handful of mentors at the event, on hand to offer advice and guidance. Some were from the tech sector, some were artists, and several were Bowdoin alumni. One of the projects Rosen advised on was the creation of an app that aims to use light and music to help international travelers adjust their circadian rhythms to help overcome jetlag.

Another mentor was Ahmed Hameed '22, who works in human resources for a major company, where his double major of computer science and digital and computational studies has proved extremely useful. "A lot of the students have really good ideas, but I'm just trying to push them just to take it one step further." This might involve adding music or cool art to a project, as well as text. Another aspect he advised students on was the concept known as "minimum viable product," making sure your creation can perform its core task well before attempting to add any extras. "They only really have a couple of hours to build their product-then they need to start preparing the presentation. It's all about time management."

"I hear from employers in both the creative and tech fields with questions about how students are using AI." Allie Kokesh, CXD.

More Student Projects

Rithmaka Karunadhara '26, who graduates this December, is a keen theater director, actor, and writer. He teamed up with Darvensky Daniel '27, a theater designer, to create a 3D web-based platform called PlaySpace.

"It's for theater makers and directors like me, who can't draw or use really complicated design tools," said Karunadhara. "The aim is to reduce the tension between non-visual artists and visual artists, so that we can communicate our aspirations to folks who are going to build on it and create much better things."

Henry Risch '27, who earlier this year was an inaugural Hastings Summer Fellow, attended Hackathon as a student mentor, but also found time to design a tool for musicians like himself (he plays bass clarinet and saxophone) and help them improve. He came up with an online tool that records and transcribes whatever you play to it and then offers critical analysis and feedback.

Other projects that students came up with included:
A weather app called Wetter, to help naturalists explore the world around them in different meteorological conditions.

A program that visualizes data from black holes, creating artwork from the result.

A personalized platform called See Deeper, which helps art viewers deepen their appreciation of fine art.

A tool for helping people choose the right flowers for the right occasion, offering color-based recommendations related to the sound of the user's voice, among other things.

A product called Beans to Beats, which helps customers choose the right coffee AND the right music to fit their current mood.

"I think it is safe to call our first Creativity Hackathon a resounding success!" remarked Professor Christopher Martin. "The projects that attendees were able to realize and showcase over the course of the day were truly remarkable," he continued, describing the various student projects as "a testament to how powerful blending creativity, the arts, and technology can be in their own unique ways. My hope is to continue providing venues like this for students to learn together in a hands-on way outside of the classroom."

VIDEO: Learn about the Hackathon in under two minutes!