EthicAI=FORUM
On November 24th at the Goethe-Institut Athens, we had the pleasure of presenting the results of the 2022 edition of the EthicAI=LABS project. The local community interested in arts, technology, ethics, and the future of artificial intelligence was invited to meet the project participants and learn more about their work at the EthicAI=FORUM.
While the public part of the event was on Thursday, the teams’ preparation for the forum began much earlier. The Blackbox team arrived in Athens at the beginning of the week to set up their art installation in the seminar room. The labyrinth-like installation showcases different gender biases in the context of human-machine communication. The lower foyer was the best fit for AIMotion to install their work – an interactive project exploring how machines read emotions. By the institute’s entrance, both Glubot and ALMA had the chance to set up their works elaborating on using machine learning in health monitoring and exploring the concept of controversy in AI.
On 23rd November we had a final rehearsal and feedback session with our trusted project mentors Mihaela Constantinescu (RO), Marinos Koutsomichalis (GR), and Fatih Sinan Esen (TUR). The participants had the chance to meet two local artists and hear more about their work. Kyriaki Goni presented her work Not Allowed for Algorithmic Audiences (2021) and Alexandros Drymonitis shared more about his past and future projects at the cross-section between social media, language processing, and music.
While all teams were busy with their installations, final rehearsals, and testing, we made sure to dedicate some time to unwinding, too. The evening of Wednesday saw the group of international fellows, mentors, and coordinators having dinner in a traditional Greek restaurant in downtown Athens. After the in-person Ideathon in May 2022 at Goethe-Institut Sofia, most of the team members had only collaborated online. A long-awaited return to face-to-face communication took the group for drinks in the vibrant centre of Athens and its countless bars and cafes.
By Thursday, November 24th, most works were already in place and ready to present to the audience. The agenda on this day full of anticipation started with a short tour of the National Museum of Contemporary Art. Guided by one of the local project mentors – Marinos Koutsomichalis – the tour showed the highlights of Hellenic artworks from the 20th and 21st centuries.
At 4:00 pm, all participants were already welcoming the audience to the Goethe-Institut. Small crowds buzzing with curiosity gathered at each installation. Conversations about the participants’ works, the subjects and methods of research, and the opportunities for future development continued until the beginning of the official agenda at the institute’s library.
After a few welcoming words and a project summary by the EthicAI=LABS team, the floor was all for the four teams. Showcasing the conception and development of their ideas, the research context and the mediums they chose for their works, AIMotion, ALMA, Blackbox, and Glubot captured the audience’s imagination. Achieving such results is even more impressive considering the teams only had a few months to prepare.
A panel of our mentors, moderated by Manolis Andriotakis (GR), closed the formal part of the agenda, leaving enough time for a short Q&A with the guests. While the conversations continued among the project installations, we had the pleasure of listening to a DJ set selected specifically for the occasion by Hypermedium (GR).