We non-augmented view the possibilities of artificial intelligence with a mix of fear of fascination. And pretty much always have. As ‘More than Human’, the Barbican’s new AI blockbuster exhibition, establishes by way of prologue, fictions of artificial and, more or less, intelligent life have a long history: from Golem through Frankenstein to Rick Deckard and beyond. And these fears and fascinations continue to shape how we engage with AI as it moves from fantasy to pocketable commonplace. Hi Siri. The Japanese, with no native Prometheus/Frankenstein narrative to spook them, have been quick and warm in their embrace of AI as tool and low-maintenance companion. Aibo, Sony’s adorable robo-pup, inevitably makes an appearance here.
Aibo, by Sony
The exhibition then breezes through analogue AIs, with actual examples of Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine and Alan Turing’s Enigma-busting bombe machine. (Ian McEwan’s new novel, Machines Like Me, imagines the earlier advances AI may have made had Turing not died at 42). And then moves onto contemporary’s AI star turns; IBM’s Watson trouncing the competition on the American game show Jeopardy and – significantly ramping up that fear and fascination with AI – DeepMind’s AlphaGo beating the best human competition at the fiendishly complex strategy game, Go.
All this though is really backstory for a thorough poke around the good and bad of AI’s current performances and potentiality. The exhibition pulls together work from artists, scientists and researchers, including Es Devlin, Neri Oxman, Massive Attack’s Robert del Naja, Alexandra Daisy Ginberg, Stefan Hurtig and Detlef Weitz as well Google Arts and Culture, and MIT’s Computer Science Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and looks at how AI’s advance is transforming everything from food production to journalism, healthcare – particularly diagnosis – transport and shopping.
Apiary, by Neri Oxman
While there is interactive fun to be had that thread of fear, fascination and some foreboding runs through the show. Joy Buolamwini, activist, scientist and founder of the Algorithmic Justice League, for example, looks at how gender and racial bias have become encoded, through complacency and a lack of imagination rather than outright malevolence perhaps, in facial analysis software. But the alarm raised in the show is far more sophisticated that simple tech bro backlash and it explores – with working models – the complex relationship between AI and consciousness and creativity. And it’s potential to enhance, amplify or explain both.
PoemPortraits, by Es Devlin
2065 (preview), by Lawrence Lek.
INFORMATION
‘AI: More than Human’ is on view until 26 August. For more information, visit the Barbican Centre website
ADDRESS
Barbican Centre
Silk Street
London, EC2Y 8DS
-
At The Manner, New York has a highly fashionable new living roomThe Manner, a new hopsitality experience by Standard International in the heart of SoHo, triples up as a hotel, private residence, and members’ club
-
First look – Bottega Veneta and Flos release a special edition of the Model 600Gino Sarfatti’s fan favourite from 1966 is born again with Bottega Veneta’s signature treatments gracing its leather base
-
We stepped inside the Stedelijk Museum's newest addition in AmsterdamAmsterdam's Stedelijk Museum has unveiled its latest addition, the brand-new Don Quixote Sculpture Hall by Paul Cournet of Rotterdam creative agency Cloud
-
Meet Kenia Almaraz Murillo, the artist rethinking weavingKenia Almaraz Murillo draws on the new and the traditional in her exhibition 'Andean Cosmovision' at London's Waddington Custot
-
Inside Jack Whitten’s contribution to American contemporary artAs Jack Whitten exhibition ‘Speedchaser’ opens at Hauser & Wirth, London, and before a major retrospective at MoMA opens next year, we explore the American artist's impact
-
Doc'n Roll Film Festival makes its loud return to the UKThe 11th edition of the Doc'n Roll Film Festival celebrates music, culture and cinema from around the world
-
Preview the Jameel Prize exhibition, coming to London's V&A, with a focus on moving image and digital mediaThe winner of the V&A and Art Jameel’s seventh international award for contemporary art and design inspired by Islamic tradition will be showcased alongside shortlisted artists
-
Genesis Belanger is seduced by the real and the fake in LondonSculptor Genesis Belanger’s solo show, ‘In the Right Conditions We Are Indistinguishable’, is open at Pace, London
-
Francis Bacon at the National Portrait Gallery is an emotional tour de force‘Francis Bacon: Human Presence’ at the National Portrait Gallery in London puts the spotlight on Bacon's portraiture
-
Frieze Sculpture takes over Regent’s ParkTwenty-two international artists turn the English gardens into a dream-like landscape and remind us of our inextricable connection to the natural world
-
Meet Oluwole Omofemi and Bayo Akande, the founders creating a new art communityOluwole Omofemi and Bayo Akande, are behind Piece Unique, an artist agency that guides and future-proofs emerging artists’ careers
