This research presents the Immanent Critique Engine (ICE), a generative audiovisual and computational system designed to investigate how identity is produced, classified, and valorised under conditions of augmented capitalism. Rather than treating identity as a representational construct, the system models it as an emergent computational process shaped by the interaction of perception, classification, feedback, and value extraction.

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The system begins with unstructured video data, which is processed by a pre-engine referred to as the Aesthetic Parser. This module segments footage temporally and classifies it according to four analytical dimensions: Identity, Weirdness, Eeriness, and Valorisation. Drawing on computational analysis and critical theory, these dimensions provide a framework through which audiovisual material becomes both legible and critically interpretable.

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At the core of the system is the computation of an ICE State Vector. This is produced through the interaction of four analytical engines, each corresponding to one of the project's theoretical dimensions. Identity measures the stability and recognisability of subjects and categories. Weirdness identifies ambiguity, category drift, and moments that resist classification. Eeriness captures distributed agency, opacity, and the presence of unseen computational processes. Valorisation examines how identities become sources of attention, exchange, and value within platform environments.

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These dimensions are continuously recalculated through the analysis of perceptual features and accumulated classifications. Rather than producing fixed representations, the system generates dynamic states that evolve over time. A phase model introduces temporal continuity, enabling the engine to detect shifts, transitions, and emerging patterns within the analysed material.

The system outputs an evolving audiovisual composition alongside a visualisation layer that exposes its internal processes, including state vectors, analytical dimensions, and phase conditions. This makes the operation of computational classification visible and open to interrogation, allowing identity to be understood as an ongoing process rather than a stable category.

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Conceptually, the project draws upon the work of Guy Debord, Mark Fisher, media ecology, and contemporary critiques of platform capitalism. It introduces Augmented Capitalism as a framework for understanding how artificial intelligence and platform systems increasingly operationalise the production and valorisation of identity. By translating these theoretical concepts into computational processes, ICE explores how critique might emerge from within technological systems rather than from an external position.

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As both a conceptual model and a practical implementation, the Immanent Critique Engine offers an experimental framework for investigating the relationship between artificial intelligence, identity, and contemporary culture, demonstrating how critical theory can be operationalised through computation, visualisation, and generative media practice.