Main Teaching Staff: Nora al Badri & Felix Stalder
This is a joint module for BFA students (ZHdK) and BA students of Computer Science (ETH) to bring together artistic and technological perspectives taking place in both universities. Our starting point is to consider «Artificial Intelligence» (AI) as a historical-material practice, that is, shaped by the concrete conditions of its development and use. The special focus is on the “Personas of AI”, that is, the way we encounter different AI applications (as assistants, experts, helpers, friends, oracles etc.), but also how they encounter us, that is, what they assume about and expect from us.
We will combine theoretical reflection, artistic and technical practices, and hands-on group work.
We will address the current discourse within our democratically shaped society around AI. The main topics will be:
The students get to know a completely new field (art ←→ computer science). They have tested how inspiring interdisciplinary collaboration can be and applied their newly acquired knowledge by designing a practice-oriented project/ AI+Art prototype in mixed groups. In addition, they take away with them the social and ecological contribution that can be made with ML.
At the end of the seminar, interdisciplinary teams will develop concepts for joint practice-related projects in AI and art.
Date: 7.-11.04.2025 (Monday voluntary for ETH students)
Time: 09:00 -17:00 (except Friday, 09:00 - 13:00)
Location
Requirements (for ZHdK Students)
Presence, at least 80%
Contribution to discussions in class¨
Participation in group work and presentation of results.
Monday voluntary for ETH students
Technical and practical introduction to AI for artisits with Alexandre Puttick
Some of the concepts covered are:
Art Works
Artistic Works
Group Work
Input Nora Al-Badri: Post-Colonial Perspectives & who is speaking
Further reading:
Group Work
Short Texts, associative read and present one sentence
Group Work
Guests:
Dr. Kebene Wodajo, Lecturer at the Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, ETHZ “Subjectivity, Personhood, and AI Systems: Afro-Communitarian Gaze The modernist gaze narrates the story of data and data-driven technologies, such as AI systems, through an individualistic, state-centric, and market-oriented lens. Within this narrative, a person is conceptualised as an individual data subject who exercises control and retains rights over their data, while relying on state-centric frameworks for protection—or so the prevailing rhetoric suggests. But what if we were to shift our perspective, to cast our gaze towards the 'otherwise', towards the non-mainstream, towards pluralistic ways of seeing, being, and becoming? What if we viewed data and data-driven technologies in their full complexity—not merely as products/commodities, but rather as intricate sociotechnical, material, discursive, and more-than-human? This lecture invites students to embark together on this journey towards the 'otherwise', guided by Afro-communitarian perspectives. This viewpoint begins with 'we' rather than 'I', emphasises multiplicity over singularity, and foregrounds multiple ontologies and diverse forms of becoming. Adopting this gaze neither erases individuality nor diminishes the pursuit of equality, fairness, and transparency in AI systems. Rather, these concepts are illuminated in views from the 'otherwise'. They are understood not merely as claims grounded in legally prescribed rights but as necessities arising from the inherent multiplicity within individuality itself—captured vividly in various Afro-communitarian principles, from the well-known 'I am because we are' to ‘Namummaa’. This gaze remains deeply attentive to personhood as entangled within plurality and relationality; and subjectivity, as a form of irreducibly emergent becoming.
Further Readings:
Dr. Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal, Professor, Digital Humanities, Artificial Intelligence and Media Studies, University of Basel
The Perplexities of Persona and Personhood: On LLMs, Stereotypes, and Design Methods
Across industry and academia, a curious trend has emerged. From OpenAI to law firms and sociologists to policy analysts, several expert groups have started using large language models (LLMs) to model human perspectives. This lecture simply seeks to understand, contextualise, and investigate this phenomenon. We will look at the technical substrates of chatbots, which make them ripe for the use of 'personas,' a prompt engineering technique that instantiates different 'bots' from the same underlying AI model. What are the social, cultural, political, and affective implications of this world full of bots with personas? Staying with this question, Dhaliwal will then trace the spread of persona-bots in academic and corporate methodologies. Why and how he asks, do these communities expect (or desire) their bots to stand in for actual humans – be they sociological subjects or democratic actors – and how do such modes of thought succeed and fail?
Further Readings
Group Work
Presention: each 10 Minute Presentation, 10 Minute Diskussion