“To be human” is a question with no right or wrong answer. If you were to pose this question to multiple people you would likely get a spectrum of opinions touching on our morality or our intellectual capabilities. My own interpretation of this theme stems from the concept of artificial intelligence and how its evolution could blur the lines of what it means to be human, forcing us to re-define and reimagine what technology truly is.
We visited Rhizome for our archive research which contains a wide variety of digital artworks and software developments. This allowed me to explore the versatility and visual appeal of computer-generated Art. A collection that I found particularly inspiring is “Electric sheep” by Scott Draves. This collection contained abstract artwork generated by computers that mimicked the uncanny valley aspects of our dreams by constantly morphing and distorting existing objects. This was key to my research as it showed signs of A.I mimicking human traits.
To further my knowledge on A.I, I decided to attend “The call of the Posthuman” lecture which was ran by Elizabeth Hodson. In this lecture the artist Neil Harbisson was discussed as he is the first person in the world to have an antenna implanted into his skull.
“I don’t feel that I’m using technology, I don’t feel that I’m wearing technology, I feel that I am technology”
This quote conveys how he views the antenna as an extension of himself similar to how we would view an arm or leg, showing that the lines between where the human form ends and technology begins has become debatable.