4 October - 24 November
Poetics of Prompting: A Crash Course in Speaking Machine
Language and digital culture have always been intertwined. But with the emergence of generative artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT, Midjourney, and Sora, many of which are based on large language models, the digital takes on a new dimension. But what does it mean to speak the language of the tool well? And how do we find ways to write with machines, not as machines?
Most of the attention around the spectacular rise of AI-tools has focused on what they enable, the data they extract, or the danger that they will take over all kinds of human work, including that of creative makers. With Poetics of Prompting, we zoom in on the core of human-machine interaction, digging deeper into our relationship with the machine.
Because whatever you want an AI-tool to do— generate text, images, music, or film—you need to write a set of instructions, a prompt. Since the launch of ‘AI for all’ just under two years ago, there has been a proliferation of courses in prompt engineering. Now, instead of a programming language, we can communicate with machines through a shared human language. However, writing prompts well requires more than just a way with words and strong language skills. It calls for the development of a new language that both humans and machines can understand. This process asks us to feedback and feedforward with the machine, in order to move beyond the predictable, the mundane, the cliche.
Poetics of Prompting brings together 21 artists and designers who explore the languages of the prompt from different perspectives and experiment in multiple ways with AI. In their work, machines’ abilities and human creativity merge. Through new and existing works, interactive projects, and a public program filled with talks, workshops and film screenings, this exhibition explores the critical, playful and experimental relationships between humans and their AI tools.
The exhibition features work by Morehshin Allahyari, Shumon Basar & Y7, Ren Loren Britton, Sarah Ciston, Mariana Fernández Mora, Radical Data, Yacht, Kira Xonorika, Kyle McDonald & Lauren McCarthy, Metahaven, Simone C Niquille, Sebastian Pardo & Riel Roch-Decter, Katarina Petrovic, Eryk Salvaggio, Sebastian Schmieg, Sasha Stiles, Paul Trillo, Richard Vijgen, Alan Warburton, and The Hmm & AIxDesign.
🎉 Opening 🎉
đź“Ť Location:Â MU Hybrid Art House
đź“… Date: 04 October 2024
đź•— Time: 19.30 – 22.00 CEST
🎟 Tickets: RSVP here
Poetics of Prompting: A Crash Course in Speaking Machine is on view from 4 October until 24 November 2024.
Please visit the MU website for opening hours and general ticket information.
You can find information on accessibility at MU here.
💙 This event is kindly supported by the Creative Industries Fund NL, Amsterdam Fund for the Arts, het Cultuurfonds, and the Netherland-America Foundation.
