Psychedelics Researcher Enlists AI Artist to Draw Beings They Met While Tripping on DMT

"It feels like first contact for our species."

Psychonaut Encounters

Artificial intelligence has opened new doors for psychedelics enthusiasts to show the world the beautiful realms they inhabit when tripping.

As Vice reports, veteran psychedelics researcher David Jay Brown of the group Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) has joined forces with artist Sara Phinn to document the many, multifaceted beings they and others have met on DMT. The potent psychedelic drug often leads to trips that are characterized by visions of loving alien entities.

While so-called "psychonauts" have described the beings they've encountered while high on DMT for half a century now, Phinn and Brown's endeavor is unique not only because they're cataloging a variety of creatures, but also because the artist is using generative AI tools such as Midjourney to document these entities.

And the results are, as expected, trippy as hell, ranging from ethereal "spirits of the dead" to "jesters," gleaming in neon colors.

Vision Quest Guide

In an interview with Vice, the pair argued that the rising popularity of DMT, heralded in by a growing acceptance, necessitated a need for a guidebook. Researchers have increasingly been studying the effects of the drug, which has become so commonplace, it is being sold in the form of vape pens.

"Since DMT has become so popular and entity encounters have become rather common, we thought that it'd be helpful and fun to create an illustrated, naturalistic field guide," Brown told Vice.

The researcher said that he and Phinn profiled a whopping 27 separate entities, gleaned from personal and anecdotal experiences and academic reports about DMT, combining that information with other, non-psychedelic sources, like "alien abduction and UFO contactee reports, fairy sightings, and other reports of non-human entity contact to see where there's overlap."

Some of the beings and experiences that the artist and researcher came across weren't always welcoming creatures that made the transition into the psychedelic world easier.

"I think that there's any number of beings and dynamics," Phinn said, "and it's like a jungle in this dimension: there's going to be friendlies and not-so-friendlies."

Overall, the pair seem enthusiastic about wanting to help psychedelic explorers as they navigate these alien worlds.

"It feels like first contact for our species," Phinn said. "It's really exciting to be at a place where we feel the common culture is broad enough to receive it."

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