Lecture

Computers have a long history of engineered exclusion intertwined in its architecture, be it software or hardware, even though the mathematical foundation in which they lie upon was mostly developed by non-English speaking cultures. At the advent of personal computers, engineers prioritized the encoding of the Latin alphabet for English usage with 8-bit character encodings, keeping non-Latin languages like Arabic or Cantonese virtually impossible to be handled by the limited motherboard memory of the time.

What kind of artistic approaches to hacking machine vision exist? Are there art hacks that challenge AI-powered vision?

This lecture draws on presenters PhD research addressing conceptions of machine vision bias in digital art. It examines various artistic tactics to hack machine vision and trick AI. The lecture emphasizes the importance of understanding hacking as a multifaceted approach in resisting surveillant vision and discusses art's role in resisting and critiquing AI-powered vision.

The material dimension of clouds is a research in which we approach the material and tangible elements of the Internet, how it shapes our memory and how we abandon it. We think about the cloud, as a volatile metaphor for the Internet, how our “cloud” connects us to the ground, the earth and what is buried under the sea. We think how extractivism and colonialism are not only shaping the manufacturing processes of our technological devices but also influence and affect deep layers of meaning, bodies, energies and spiritualities.

#AI #Ethics #FreeSoftware #Licenses #Openwashing #FOSSCompliance

In 2024, elections will occur in 50 countries– including the United States, India, and the EU. Social media content moderation - where content moderators and AI check the network's content daily to see whether it complies with the platform rules - is crucial in combating hate speech, racism, and misinformation. However, many big tech jobs - including content moderators -- have been cut, and content moderators suffer poor working conditions.

The confluence of visual culture and digital devices has brought unprecedented connectivity while contributing to an expansive and vastly unsustainable media (eco)system. The materiality of communication, devices, and their encompassing infrastructure indicate a visual culture that is materially extractive and computationally heavy.

Opening-up Internet Governance to Artists / Activists / Anarchists , by including intersectional values of Ecology / Sustainability / Feminism / Diversity / Climate Justice / DeGrowth

It's one thing to talk about the negative impact of technology, it's however a whole different thing to radically reinvent one's practice, collective habits, and the infrastructures that support digital culture. While cultural work is often lauded for its capacity to illustrate and communicate societal issues, it also struggles, paradoxically, to challenge the problematic systems and tools that enable such capacity.

The presentation will be an examination of the intricate entanglement between magic, TESCREAL-ism, technology and the "Future". The starting point will be an artwork conceived six years ago, the Fisiognomic Horoscope. Delving deeper, scrutiny will be given to the deployment of machine learning as a predictive mechanism, leveraging historical data to forecast future outcomes.

There are many logical objections to AI, from its corrosive effects on the world around us to the corrosive ontologies it propagates within us. But have you considered that it makes ugly art, too? And perhaps by making cool art, we can inhabit a manner of resistance that is comprehensible outside logic and rationality? Let's consider together.

Ph: Violetta Wakolbinger