Wednesday Afternoon

Artificial intelligence (AI) is all around us, transforming the way we see the world and the world sees us. Sometimes, we barely notice, sometimes, the results of AI can be very impressive, though sometimes so impressively bad, that Hito Steyrl and others started to talk about “Artificial Stupidity”. But almost always, the actual procedures of AI remain mysterious, locked away in a black box.

In this module, we will look at a recent wave of artistic and theoretical work that tries to open this black box, creating a language and an aesthetics for critical engagement. In particular, we will look at image recognition AI, what the artist Trevor Paglen calls “predatory vision” and the data scientist Joy Buolamwini calls the “coded gaze”, referring to gender and racial biases in these systems.

We will also use some web-based image recognition systems to get a first-hand impression of the capacities of these technologies as tools for artistic investigation.

Date: Week 17, April 20-24, 2020

Time: 10:00 - 17:00

The course takes place online:

Connect through the Zoom app, ID: 7890997001

or through a web browser

https://zhdk.zoom.us/j/7890997001

The password is sent to you by email.

Course requirements:

active participation in group activity
active individual work (via pad)
fictional short story, 2-3 pages, to be handed until Sunday, April 26. (Upload to Paul)

Pad: http://pad.vmk.zhdk.ch/p/art_ai_imagerecognition

Similarity & Difference