Artificial Intelligence

Champenois, Robin: Artificial Intelligence, mirroring our Unconscious

Based on the artworks made in a research-creation PhD, and weaving links between computer science, art history, cognitive sciences, philosophy and psychoanalysis, my talk will try to unveil new visions of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.).
A.I. is at the center of many fantasies and polemics, often contradictory. As a machine, it appears as a computer system both neutral and logical; and yet, it is mainly a mysterious black box full of biases. As a technological advance, it holds the promise of a safe and wonderful future; but it is also a threat for our freedom as a tool for extended surveillance. As an external intelligence, it offers to unburden our brains and increase their limited abilities; but for now, AI mostly brings out our worst tendencies... There might be a common cause for these apparent inconsistencies: A.I. surely imitates some aspects of our reasoning, – but mainly its instinctive, non-reflective thinking. In other words, more precisely than an abstract “intelligence”, A.I. would be better described as an artificial unconscious. And it questions our own paradoxes of (ir)rational beings. Which “unconscious” are we talking about here? What does A.I. say about us, humans? What relationships can we foster with this other we are obsessed about?
To consider these questions as a whole, rational thinking might insufficient: in meeting another unconscious, we could stay in a dead-end if we do not open our own. Therefore, as a domain whose object is our feelings, and a thinking that involves more than mere reason, Art appears as the most relevant field to tackle these challenges.
In this talk I will explore the unreasonable fantasies of the machine – and of its creators. I will bring the audience to a journey through the dreams of the machine, its fears, its paradoxes; I will try to open a bridge between organic and metallic neurons.

Hou, Yumeng: Motion as meaning for intangible knowledge representation

Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) as a site for digital efforts has grown significantly since 2003 as UNESCO affirmed the significance of preserving "the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills". Unlike tangible heritage which is conventionally protected via legislation and object-based conservation, intangible cultural expressions are usually embodied, enacted and continuously recreated. It is thus crucial for us "digital custodians" to find appropriate ways to transform the living knowledge from ephemeral nuances to tangible cultural entities. As such, this presentation will showcase a machine-enhanced approach and its application to retrieving and representing motion as meaning from multimodal cultural datasets.