Jennifer Rubell launches AI texting app Attune at New York exhibition

Conceptual artist Jennifer Rubell has launched an artificial intelligence app called Attune as part of her current exhibition at Meredith Rosen Gallery in New York, on view until 26 June. The app analyzes text messages to diagnose communication patterns such as 'flashing' (showing vulnerability then covering it with a question), 'momifying' (performing independence instead of naming the ask), or 'toe dipping' (asking for clearance before owning the feeling), and rephrases them in the user's own voice. Unlike typical AI models that learn to echo users, Attune aims to provide honest feedback to help users communicate more effectively. The diagnoses are based on Rubell's own analyses and beta tester feedback, with a focus on softening messages without undermining oneself. Rubell emphasizes that the labor of interpersonal communication, often performed by women, is not decorative but extremely important, though she notes that everyone obsesses over texts when they really count. Attune is positioned as a mass-market product with a monthly subscription of $12.99, targeting people who are sensitive to words and anxious about their texting. Rubell describes the app as a 'kind of superpower' that shows users themselves in ways that may or may not be comfortable. The exhibition also includes beach balls stamped with 'baller', a painting with a QR code for a one-month free trial, and a young man on his phone as a 'readymade portrait of our time'.