Gogbot
2016
Post Singularity
After the Singularity edition of 2010, societal attention to artificial intelligence quickly grew. Moreover, the advancement of technology in everyday life has continued steadily. Our lives are increasingly connected to and dependent on apps, machines, robotics, and (invisible) systems. The singularity, the theory that self-thinking machines and cyborgs (part human, part machine) would dominate biological humans within a few decades, could well become a reality.
In the 2016 edition, GOGBOT questioned how a world might manifest itself after this turning point, thus post-Singularity. By prefixing 'post-' to Singularity, the fascinating and terrifying future vision of a machine takeover was momentarily set aside. Questions were raised about what is coming our way, whether a takeover of the world by artificial intelligences is inevitable, how we would live after such a takeover, and how resistance to this development might be formed before or after the Singularity. The theme Post-Singularity is particularly interesting within an art context because of its relationship with a rich history of artistic practices where artists question human genius, attempt to make their art completely independent of human input, or even have their work entirely shaped by machines.