A volume on artificial intelligence, which attempts to disassemble and reformulate what one might understand as AI by taking apart both notions of ‘artificiality’ and ‘intelligence’ and seeing what new meaning they produce when recombined. We summon the trickster of the natural order, chimera, both a mythical creature and a genetic phenomenon. Drawing upon chimerism allows us to broaden ‘artificial intelligence’ into ‘synthetic cognition’⁠—an approach that highlights the duality of ‘artificial’ and ‘authentic’, amplifies non-human methods of cognition and anticipates modes of symbiosis. With this aim, the editors, Ilan Manouach and Anna Engelhardt, assembled an inventory in which one can find contributions ...

From predicting criminality to sexual orientation, fake and deeply flawed Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rampant. Amidst this feverishly hyped atmosphere, this book interrogates the rise and fall of AI hype, pseudoscience and snake oil. Bringing together different perspectives and voices from across disciplines and countries, it draws connections between injustices inflicted by inappropriate AI. Each chapter unpacks lazy and harmful assumptions made by developers when designing AI tools and systems, and examines the existential underpinnings of the technology itself to ask: why are there so many useless, and even dangerously flawed, AI systems?

The exhibition House of Mirrors: Artificial Intelligence as Phantasm takes the common clichés about AI as an opportunity to talk about issues such as hidden human labor, algorithmic bias/discrimination, the problem of categorization and classification, and our fantasies about AI. It asks whether (and how) it is possible for us to reclaim agency in this context. Featuring more than 20 artistic works by international artists, the exhibition is divided into seven thematic chapters. The scenography of the exhibition is reminiscent of a giant house of mirrors.

There is a sound that exists nowhere else but at an outdoor pool: the gurgling and the splashing of the water, the squeaking and the screaming of the bathers, only drowned out by the announcements of the pool attendants. In the summer of 2018, this background noise, which increases with the number of people seeking cooling from the summer sun, resembled more of a background roar. Thousands of swimmers and non-swimmers seemed to scream at each other. Because these weeks were especially hot, even more so in Berlin. We enjoyed the lethargy caused by the blazing sun. It reminded us ...

Printed Web presents new web-to-print work by artists who use screen capture, image grab, site scrape and search query. Published twice a year by Library of the Printed Web.

SKYLIFT is a geolocation emulator that virtually relocates visitors to Julian Assange’s residence at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. The device was made for !Mediengruppe Bitnik’s Assange room (held at Zoo Galerie) and works by broadcasting WiFi signals that exploit a smartphone’s reliance on using nearby MAC addresses for location services. SKYLIFT works without connecting to any WiFi network. The only requirements are that you have WiFi turned on and location services enabled. There is no IP spoofing, no GPS signal spoofing, no VPN, and no 3rd party app involved. SKYLIFT will adjust your smartphone’s location to 3 Hans Crescent Knightsbridge, London SW1X 0LS (The Ecuadorian Embassy in ...

The future never felt closer than it does today. A series of environmental, technological and social shifts are affecting today’s world and the human’s role within it. Continuous urbanization, the impact of the anthropogenic activity on the natural environment, the increasing use of algorithmic systems in all sectors of life, and the growing asymmetries of power among territories and populations, are all central issues at stake. How possible is it to address the future and the changes already taking place? This item is publicly available as part of the Library Stack Public Branch at NN Contemporary Art.