This work is part of the series Who is J.Doe?
In this work, Englebert explores the paradox of human identity through genetics and artificial intelligence. All human beings share 99.9% of their genetic material, regardless of whether we are related or not. The divergence is reduced to a mere 0.1% of our DNA — and it is within this small fraction that the physical and biological variations distinguishing each individual reside. This scientific fact raises profound philosophical questions about the nature of identity and individuality. As French philosopher Paul Ricoeur notes in his book Oneself as Another (1992), personal identity is constructed through a complex interaction between sameness and otherness, between continuity and change. What does it mean to be a unique individual when we share almost all of our biological being with the rest of humanity?
Digital mockup
To bring J.Doe to life — a hybrid entity that embodies the very concept of identity — the artist worked with anonymous DNA sequences provided by the NIH GenBank and combined them to create a single genetic profile. By creating a fictional being from anonymous genetic fragments, she draws attention to the contingent and constructed nature of personal identity. From this unique genetic profile, she selected certain physical traits to train an artificial intelligence (AI) system and generate the 99.9 possible individuals sharing the same characteristics.
This process evokes the ideas of French philosopher Gilles Deleuze on difference and repetition. For Deleuze, identity is not a fixed or stable essence but rather an effect of constant differences and variations. By generating multiple permutations of J.Doe through AI, Englebert makes visible the fluid and plural nature of identity, even within the seemingly narrow limits of the 0.1% genetic variation.
These images are derived from the information encoded in J.Doe’s DNA sequence, encompassing a range of traits such as facial morphology, eye color, hair tone, among others. This process recalls the ideas of American artist and philosopher Donna Haraway on the “cyborg” nature of identity in the technological age. For Haraway, we are all “chimeras, theorized and fabricated hybrids of machine and organism,” our identities inextricably intertwined with the technologies that surround and shape us.
“Generated Photos,” the AI that generated the 99 possible faces of J.Doe from the DNA samples.
The 99 possible faces of J.Doe generated with AI
from the analysis of the anonymous DNA samples.
The purpose of this work is to materialize the diversity of this imaginary character within the seemingly small 0.1% that distinguishes it from others. Yet in doing so, the artist also raises broader questions about the nature of identity in the era of genetic information and artificial intelligence. As German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk argues in his book Rules for the Human Zoo (1999), advances in biotechnology and genetics are challenging our traditional notions of what it means to be human. What implications does it have for our understanding of identity that we can now decode, manipulate, and even create life at the genetic level?
At the same time, the proliferation of AI-generated representations of J.Doe raises unsettling questions about the relationship between identity and technology in the digital age. As philosopher Slavoj Žižek warns, we live in an era of “decentered subjectivity,” in which our identities are increasingly fragmented and multiplied through our interactions with screens and networks. What does it mean to be an individual when our sense of self is constantly mediated and shaped by algorithms and digital avatars?
By visualizing the multiple permutations of J.Doe, the work confronts us with the paradoxical nature of our individuality — the fact that we are at once singular and profoundly interconnected, both biologically and technologically. At a time when the old boundaries between the natural and the artificial, the real and the virtual, are rapidly dissolving, this work offers a timely and provocative meditation on the future of human identity. By confronting us with the fluid multiplicity of J.Doe, “99.9% or 0.1%” challenges us to rethink what we believe we know about ourselves and our place in a world in transformation.
Some of the AI-generated faces from the DNA samples applied to different formats.