Speculative piece by Marina Hassapopoulou, originally written for the An[0]ther {AI} in Art summit: Decolonizing Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Art Making, Columbia University and the Knight Foundation, April 24-26, 2019.
25 years from now, this text will no longer be conveyed on a visible interface. Communication will become more introspective, more internalized, more cognitive {but not in a “pathological” way…or, in addition to that! …and in a standardized way}.
By this I mean that mental interfaces will displace, though not completely replace (traditionalists will always exist), external interfaces such as mobile screens. Arguably, late capitalist societies are transitioning from being previously structured around visual culture and ocular-centric modes of organization, to more kinesthetic/tactile/physically interactive/ embodied [but in a limited sensory sense] means of re-structuring.
Logically (?), the next transition {to late late capitalism? To post-capitalism? To post-humanism? To self-annihilation? What?} will bring about the shift to more internal {as in, of the mind} and inward-driven systems of organization and, ultimately, control and regulation. Instead of expanding the body, we will be retracting the mind (?)
Our minds will no longer only be externally mapped on social networks {Facebook’s all-too-familiar “What’s on your mind?” prompt, for instance, will become an unnecessary proxy from the mind to the interface/self-surveillance} on databases, on MRI machines and CAT scans, on journals and diaries, and so on…. There will be no proxy –no mediator, no interface – from mind to systems of control. Sequence complete.
This will be the tech-equivalent, dystopian way of becoming psychic – a somatic-cybernetic mode of extrasensory perception. Science fiction has already provided {limiting or expanding?} literary and audiovisual templates for this not-so-futuristic scenario, but –more important than the sci-fi visualizations of what this could look like – are the conceptual ideas behind those “fictions” dealing with mental mining.
OR… the environment will prevail {why don’t we think more about the environmental costs in discussions of technology?} and nature will wipe out humanity before post-humanity even had a chance… Or, are we already living in the “post” era of everything?
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What are your predictions for the future? Share below or link to your own work!
Expressive AI 
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