New Stories for the Anthropocene: AI and Design for the Non-Human

AI allows artists new ways to sense, model and communicate information. Along with these new systems, makers must however consider the ways that these novel technologies may be used to selectively support our understanding of the world around us.

While much research has focused the way that AI is shaping visual culture, within the space of fine art, little attention has been paid to the roll of AI in relation to the non-human. This talk presents artworks that may illustrate new ways of using AI in the Anthropocene. Key to these works is the concept of non-anthropocentric design, which is design that attempts to consider the aims, desires and perceptual landscapes of the non-human.

Titled "The IndaPlant Project: An Act of Trans-Species Giving," the first of these artworks entails designing robotic supports for houseplants. A collaboration between art, engineering, computer science and biology, this effort creates moving floraborgs. These entities, which are part plant and part robot, allow potted plants to roam independently, in a domestic environment, in search of light and water.

The second work is titled "PandoraBird: Identifying the Types of Music that May Be Favored by Our Avian Co-habitants.” This outdoor installation uses computer vision to track the musical preferences of wild songbirds at specially designed audio-enabled feeding stations. Interfacing with an AI system designed for humans, PandoraBird ultimately aims to create a database of avian favored music and may ultimately allow the birds in your backyard to select the music you share in your common space.