Cybernetic 2.0 is a multimedia projection installation utilizing Artificial Intelligence art (AI). The installation consists of portrait videos of BIPOC individuals generated by AI and projection-mapped to fit onto a large biomorphic surface. The biomorphic surface is hand sculpted using plant pots, cotton, and fabric, my own clothing and then wrapped in a rope to amplify the “soft” visual illusion. Cybernetic 2.0 aims to explore the visual construct of systemic racism.

After experimenting with word prompts to generate AI art for over six months, I finally had the courage to prompt “Portrait of African Person”. It immediately became evident that all images generated from that prompt looked like mugshots. It was very interesting to me that even a generative machine that does not have filters, emotions or preferences was able to demonstrate systemic racism very clearly. Machine learning bias and racism can stem from an AI system learning from data that contains implicit racial bias or by absorbing the subconscious racial bias of the people who build these machine learning networks. Cybernetic 2.0 is, in the end, an exploration of how technology can profoundly impact the distribution of power and authority in society.

Cybernetic 2.0 was exhibited at Assembly Gallery from Jan 16 to Jan 25, 2023.