Erik Gen

Erik Gen is a pseudonym for Oliver Roeger, a senior instructor for Digital Media Design at the University of Illinois Chicago. Originally from Germany, with a Swiss design degree, he has been living in the US since 2000 and researching AI intensively since summer ‘22.

He has received multiple winning awards for his short films and music videos and has been screen and exhibited in Miami, LA, Barcelona, Bilbao, Paris, Berlin, Cannes, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

As a graphic designer working at the intersection of artificial intelligence and motion design, Oliver explores AI as a generative tool—not to mimic existing aesthetics but to uncover a new, emergent visual language native to machine intelligence. Rather than using AI to replicate human creativity, he is interested in its ability to reveal patterns, distortions, and structures that exist beyond traditional design paradigms.

His work is a series of experimental motion sequences where AI-driven unpredictability meets intentional design. By training models, manipulating algorithms, and embracing the unexpected, he seeks to push past AI’s tendency to remix the familiar and instead generate something fundamentally unique to its computational logic. The result is an evolving dialogue between human intention and machine autonomy—a visual language that speaks not in borrowed forms, but in new, algorithmic expressions.

Through this process, he challenges the notion of authorship in digital design and investigate AI’s role not as a tool of reproduction, but as a collaborator in innovation. His goal is to discover and define aesthetics that belong inherently to AI—ones that are synthesized from a human collective creativity and deeply intertwined with our evolving relationship to technology.

Below is a selection of his work categorized by Short Films, Music Videos and Ideas/Experiments.

Short Films

Unlocked

Late one night, a woman finds a lost smartphone that mysteriously recognizes her face — and begins talking to her. As she tries to figure out what's going on, the device knows too much about her, and a version of herself that seems more real than she is. FACE UNLOCK is a seven-minute psychological techno-thriller — a surreal descent into digital identity and self-surveillance. What begins as curiosity becomes obsession, and what looks like connection turns into consumption.

Elevator

All assets have been AI generated. The dialogs are all unscripted, meaning not directly prompted, only vague as in "they talk about going up". I'm currently fascinated by these AI generated auto-conversations. Tools are mostly Veo 3 with support of Nano Banana and Runway Aleph.

"ELEVATOR" envisions the elevator as a perpetual wound in time, its doors opening and closing like eyelids that never rest. Within this dream, the liftman becomes both sentinel and captive, stationed at the threshold of endless becoming. Each opening is not revelation but rupture—an absence gesturing toward presence, a silence disguised as meaning. The nightmare reveals the machinery of repetition that governs existence: service without escape, cycles without resolution, the human spirit suspended in the vertical void between ascent and descent. The film suggests that we inhabit lives of perpetual threshold, forever waiting at doors that promise passage yet deliver only deeper shadows.

One With Nature

A documentary-style, fictional short film that explores the fragile and often unsettling relationship between humanity and nature. 

As a film crew investigates eerie transformations deep in a remote forest—where humans mysteriously merge with plants and fungi—the story unfolds as both a poetic metaphor and a chilling warning. On one hand, it speaks to the deep, inescapable bond between humans and the natural world, a reminder that we are not separate from it but part of its vast, living web. On the other, it becomes a harrowing depiction of nature’s untamed power—an entity that, when pushed beyond its limits, retaliates without mercy. The discovery of a lost videotape, revealing monstrous plant-like figures attacking hikers, serves as the ultimate revelation: nature, long exploited and ignored, is striking back in a final act of vengeance. 

Recognition: AI Film Awards (Dubai)
Winner Best Picture BAIFF
Winner Best Documentary AI Artist
Official Selection Artefact AI Film Festival
Finalist Unhuman Shorts - Nominee

Who's The Robot Now

A possible future reality. Coexistence of AI and Humanity.

SHOPCO

Finalist Seoul international AI Film Festival

“SHOPCO” Is a darkly humorous, satirical short film that reimagines a typical shopping day—not with people, but with zombies mindlessly navigating the aisles, filling their carts, and shuffling through checkout. 

Through irony and absurdity, the film serves as a sharp metaphor for modern consumer culture and the monotony of daily life, where individuals, much like the undead, go through their routines without real engagement, lost in cycles of habit, apathy, and unfulfilled existence. In a world where ‘living’ has become synonymous with ‘functioning,’ "SHOPCO" asks: are we truly alive, or just going through the motions?"

Manufactured

The AI-generated black-and-white short film explores the cyclical and surreal nature of labor, technology, and human existence. As the protagonist shifts through time—working amidst steaming machinery of the past, vast computer rooms of the present, and an eerie post-human factory of the future—he becomes trapped in an endless loop of industrial evolution. The dreamlike transitions reflect the unbroken chain of human ingenuity and obsolescence, questioning whether progress is a linear path or a perpetual cycle. In the final moments, as androids attempt to replicate organic life, the film ponders whether the essence of humanity can ever truly be manufactured—or if it is destined to fade into mechanized memory.

The film was created during the SORA Artist program I was invited to participate in testing the possibilities using Open AI’s tool for video generation.

Duncan's Dream

The AI-generated black-and-white noir short film explores the fragmented nature of dreams and the subconscious, following a man as he enters eerie, surreal rooms filled with unsettling scenarios. Each space serves as a metaphor for buried fears, desires, and memories, blending mystery and psychological horror. The film's stark contrasts and shadowy aesthetics evoke a sense of isolation and inevitability, mirroring the dreamer’s struggle to make sense of an ever-shifting reality.

Recognition:
AI Film Awards (Venice) - Winner Best Screen Play 
AI Artist - Official Selection

MVV

My submission to the 2024 Gen:48 competition. Almost solely a Runway Gen-3 production using their new vid-to-vid feature to create a simple alternate reality/multi-verse related story.

DUI

Lynchian video experiment. Dream under the Influence.

Wrong Apartment

The first out of a planned series of super short films under a minute.

Augmented

A "rear window" style short film. Featuring a poem by ChatGPT.

Peyote

A dream sequence.

Music Videos

Home Sweet Home

A music video for my AI music project called POPTAIL.

Free Ride

Official Music Video for Sima Galanti's FREE RIDE singe.

Backyard Fears

An AI-generated music video set in a familiar backyard, yet teeming with surreal plant-human and animal-human hybrids, transforms the ordinary into the uncanny. As these strange beings sing, pulse, and play instruments, the video becomes a metaphor for anxiety—our inner fears materializing in an environment that should feel safe. The fusion of human and nature reflects our deep, inseparable connection to the world around us, while also hinting at the inevitable cycle of life and death. It’s a dreamlike confrontation with mortality, where the organic and the artificial merge, blurring the lines between the living, the inanimate, and the unknown.

Recognition:
This music video won 1st place in the AI Design Awards (Barcelona, Spain) 2025.

Manufactured

This AI-generated music video paints a haunting picture of a post-human world where androids, in a futile attempt to resurrect organic life, piece together incomplete and distorted imitations of what once was. The eerie imagery of unfinished human-like figures singing and malformed creatures being assembled serves as a stark metaphor—a reminder that humanity, once lost, is irretrievable. It explores the limits of artificial creation and the irreplaceable essence of organic existence, warning of a future where technological prowess cannot substitute for the soul of life itself.

Recognition:
This music video won 3rd place in the motion category of the AI Design Awards in 2025


 

Haunted

Music video experiment

Chills

Music and Video are AI generated

D-On-D

My first video experiment with AI generated music. Made intentionally as dumb as possible yet showcasing the mind-blowing possibilities of pure AI generated content.

De-Generated

A music video for a record label client. The project fell apart a few days in. This is some of the material I was experimenting with. Name and song have been changed. All visual assets have been AI generated.

Ideas / Experiments

Formations

AI-generated experiments showing human masses forming vast circles with hollow centers, moving in ritualistic rhythm as if guided by ancient memory. These living mandalas, at once presence and absence, reflect how unity can inscribe both emptiness and meaning into our shared existence.

Coral Hands

This surreal motion sequence portrays a coral reef where the corals take the shape of human hands, reaching out as if pleading for help. The imagery serves as a powerful metaphor for the silent yet urgent cry of these fragile ecosystems, threatened by climate change, pollution, and human exploitation. As the hands sway with the ocean currents, they evoke both the beauty and vulnerability of coral reefs, urging viewers to recognize their plight and take action to protect them before they vanish.

Train to Perdition

This AI-generated motion sequence serves as a poignant commentary on modern digital culture, illustrating how people become engrossed in their screens, oblivious to the crises unfolding around them. The contrast between their happiness and the burning world outside the train window underscores themes of escapism, denial, and the consequences of technological distraction. It raises the question: Are they unaware, or have they chosen to look away?

This clips was being shared around on Twitter/X and received millions of views. Of course never crediting the creator...

No We Can't

The AI-generated animated poster "No We Can't" serves as a stark commentary on the fragility of progress in an era where technology, surveillance, and violence intertwine with everyday life. By juxtaposing dystopian imagery—guns, barbed wire, drones, and watchful eyes—against the hopeful echoes of "Yes, We Can," it challenges us to confront our own complacency. The piece is a visual warning: the future is not a linear path toward improvement but a reflection of our collective choices. If we fail to look beyond immediate desires and short-term gains, regression is not just possible—it is inevitable.

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Crumbling

This sequence serves as a metaphor for the fragility of American democracy. The houses, representing the political factions and institutions of the nation, do not fall all at once but in a chaotic chain reaction. One collapse fuels the next, each unable to withstand the turmoil that has been building for years. The dust that lingers is uncertainty, obscuring the once-clear ideals of unity and stability.

As the debris settles, the remains of the houses lie in ruins—a once-strong system reduced to fragments. But among the wreckage, there is a glimmer of hope. Amid the dust and broken pieces, space remains for rebuilding. The question left unanswered is whether the foundation can be restored or if the cycle of collapse will continue.

Blob 1

Seamless no-cuts sequences addressing the critical issue of plastic waste through abstract visuals and thoughtful execution. Exploring the environmental impact of humanity’s actions in a visual striking and meaningful way.

Featured in ArtBasel Miami / Film Gate 2024

Blob 2

Seamless no-cuts sequences addressing the critical issue of plastic waste through abstract visuals and thoughtful execution. Exploring the environmental impact of humanity’s actions in a visual striking and meaningful way.

Featured in ArtBasel Miami / Film Gate 2024

Birches

This surreal motion sequence explores a birch forest where the trees are alive with watching eyes—each lenticel on their bark a silent observer. The piece symbolizes the deep, inextricable connection between humans and nature, where boundaries blur and existence is shared. It evokes a sense of co-evolution, a reminder that we are not separate from the natural world but are woven into its fabric, seen and seeing, part of an endless cycle of observation and interaction.

Internal Creatures

This surreal motion sequence explores the eerie beauty of organic transformation, depicting strange organisms that blend human organs with plant-like structures made of flesh. It serves as a haunting metaphor for the paradox of human existence—our awe at the body's intricate design contrasted with the inevitable fear of its fragility and decay. By merging the familiar with the grotesque, the piece embodies deep-seated anxieties about mortality, confronting viewers with the unsettling yet mesmerizing cycle of life, growth, and inevitable expiration.

Macy's Malfunctions

Tests with Gen-3 image-to-video. #runwaygen3 #gen3 #aifilm #aishortfilm #documentary #runwaygen3 #aianimation #generated #lumalabs #lumaai

Parasites

Playing around with the Gen-3 text-to-video mode. All visuals, motion and sounds are AI generated. #runwaygen3 #gen3 #aifilm #aishortfilm #documentary #runwaygen3 #aianimation #generated #lumalabs #lumaai

The "Magic" Of AI

The piece is a tongue-in-cheek reflection on the imperfections of AI-generated video, where smooth illusions unravel into absurdity. Through this ironic lens, the artwork highlights both the marvel and the limitations of AI creativity, playfully exposing its struggles to master seamless motion, logic, and coherence—much like a magician whose tricks keep going hilariously wrong.

The Flock

Playing around with the Gen-3 text-to-video mode. All visuals, motion and sounds are AI generated. #runwaygen3 #gen3 #aifilm #aishortfilm #documentary #runwaygen3 #aianimation #generated #lumalabs #lumaai

The Debate

What a clown show we live in...