> I ended up being a student of the great Frieder Nake

That is quite wonderful.

> Sadly, AI-generated imagery sort of killed the mojo of algorithmic art for me,

I am surprised you did not specifically mention Nake's provocative writing "There Should Be No Computer-Art" : https://dam.org/museum/essays_ui/essays/there-should-be-no-c...

His argument is still 100% relevant in the age of AI.