Imagining Artificial Life: breaking through the screen
About the event
Be inspired to rethink your own engagement with the digital through this discussion, asking provocative questions about the potential of artificial lives.
What does it mean to be human in the age of artificial intelligence? What if the world’s most successful writer was an AI bot? How have storytelling and myth shaped attitudes to robots? Should people worry about biases in the algorithms that read and write their lives? Humanity has long relied on stories to imagine and understand complex new technologies, but now the tantalising prospect seems to be emerging of technology telling new stories. Yet the risk remains that these breakthroughs are replicating all the old biases and prejudices, hidden (or not) beneath a gleaming white case.
Our panel of artists and researchers will explore singularities, new technologies and the blurred boundaries between art and the digital world. Speakers will include artist Beverley Hood, playwright Oliver Emanuel, human-robot interaction expert Mark Paterson and digital culture expert Melissa Terras.
In association with the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh. This event is part of the Being Human festival, the UK’s national festival of the humanities, taking place 10–19 November 2022. Led by the School of Advanced Study, University of London, with generous support from Research England, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy. For further information please see beinghumanfestival.org.
Accessibility
The event will take place at the Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge Street, Edinburgh, EH1 2ED. The venue has step free access via a lift. There is a hearing loop and seating is available throughout, with wheelchair spaces available. There are accessible, gender neutral toilets on both floors. Guide dogs and hearing dogs are welcome, and a companion service is available. Please contact us regarding specific access requirements: iash@ed.ac.uk
