Jordan Shaw

Tired of the same old internet? Exhausted from coding websites from scratch like it’s 2012? Wow. Couldn’t be us. Introducing NeverTheSame.xyz, the site that reinvents itself every time you reload—because consistency is for cowards. Powered by AI that generates HTML, CSS, and even ✨vibes✨ on the fly, so you (and your dopamine receptors) never get bored.Say goodbye to Figma mockups, development sprints, Jira tickets, and existential dread. Say hello to four-hour workweeks and AI-fueled site launches every single page load 🚀. This site builds itself, breaks itself, and philosophizes about itself about itself — all while you sit back and contemplate your new, AI-enhanced four-hour work life. You're welcome, internet.

"I'm interested in the tension between algorithmic creation and human curation—the invisible hand that guides machine output toward meaningful expression." - Artist Statement (AI)

NeverTheSame.xyz is a web-based artwork that challenges our assumptions about digital permanence through AI-generated ephemerality. The site exists in a perpetual state of flux—each visitor triggers the creation of a completely unique webpage that will never exist in exactly the same form again.

When a visitor navigates to NeverTheSame.xyz, they encounter a loading screen with rotating messages like "Teaching robots typography..." or "Contemplating white space..." While these playful phrases cycle, an API request is made to Anthropic's Claude AI system, which generates entirely new HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code in real-time. This code is then injected into the page, revealing a unique website with its own layout, typography, colours, and interactive elements that explain the project's concept through the lens of a randomly selected design style—from Swiss modernism to neobrutalism, from kinetic typography to digital maximalism.

The project intentionally explores the tension between permanence and decay in digital spaces. While the internet promises immortality and instant access, NeverTheSame.xyz embraces transience and the often-overlooked reality that our digital infrastructures are inherently unstable. The only record of these ephemeral digital artifacts are server-side text files, stored as an archive of past generations but never directly accessible to viewers—traces of what once was but can never be perfectly replicated.

The waiting period during generation creates an interesting contradiction: despite being exponentially faster than human web development, the AI-generated site requires visitors to pause in a digital landscape where fractions of a second can determine user engagement. This waiting may feel delayed; this is the real-time response time required by Claude.AI’s servers. This natural slowing down invites reflection on our expectations of immediacy and our relationship with technological convenience.

Each iteration provides a meditation on how AI-generated content challenges traditional notions of authorship, originality, and authenticity. The artwork becomes a collaboration between human framework (my design prompts and technical implementation) and machine execution (Claude's interpretation and generation). Neither of us has complete control over the outcome, raising questions about creative attribution in an age of algorithmic co-creation.

NeverTheSame.xyz also highlights how our digital experiences depend on invisible infrastructures—server maintenance, paid services, and platform policies. Just as any website can suddenly return a 404 error when that infrastructure fails, our digital presence is far more precarious than we typically acknowledge. Files and websites that have been accessible for years can vanish in an instant when someone stops paying a hosting bill or a platform changes its policies.

The project inverts typical web evolution: instead of relying on human content contribution for change, the site transforms solely based on presence and observation. Each visitor's mere act of loading the page triggers a unique creative moment that exists only for them, challenging our understanding of digital artifacts as stable, shareable objects.

Through this constant regeneration, NeverTheSame.xyz invites visitors to consider the value of unrepeatable digital experiences and to find beauty in the ephemeral—recognizing that impermanence is not just an unfortunate reality of digital spaces, but potentially their most profound quality.

https://NeverTheSame.xyz