On August 9, I will be speaking at the Long Night of Dreaming about the Future of Intelligence, which is taking place from dusk to dawn (8:44pm to 6:17am) at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland. I was asked to give a pithy statement of my contribution, and I settled on this:
“The future of intelligence depends crucially on the survival of unintelligibility.”
I’m still working out what this means, and if (and how) it’s even correct, but it’s prompted by some thoughts about the quantum leap forward that generative AI has recently made in terms of producing “intelligible” text (and other contents). Intelligibility is of course not the same as intelligence. Meanwhile, some of the most intelligent art using these new technologies works against the grain of “innovation,” foregrounding instead the unintelligible noise upon which these algorithms depend.
Here’s more info about the Long Night of Dreaming from their website:
On Wednesday, August 9th, “A Long Night of Dreaming about The Future of Intelligence” takes place at the Locarno Film Festival. From sunset to sunrise, Festival guests and visitors are invited to learn and dream together about possible futures of intelligence. Guided by researchers, artists, and cinephiles, these questions will be addressed: how do different forms of artificial and ecological intelligence manifest today? How might intelligence change in the future? And what is the role of cinema in shaping intelligence and rendering it visible? For the duration of an entire night, emerging forms of intelligence and their impact on society can be discussed and experienced in talks, workshops and performances.
The Long Night is a collaboration between the Locarno Film Festival, BaseCamp and the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI). It is supported by Stiftung Mercator Schweiz. The event is a successor of “The 24h long conversation on The Future of Attention” at Locarno75. As last year, it is curated by researcher and futurist Rafael Dernbach.
“Our image of intelligence has become a feverish dream, lately.Generative Artificial Intelligence has opened up a world of wondrous pictures, sounds and texts. We are astonished, amused, or disturbed by these creations. And by their loud promises of a radically different future. At the same time, ecological critique and its images of devasted landscapes, anticipating forests and networking fungi challenges our concept intelligent behavior: Have we neglected non-human forms of intelligence for too long? Might fungi be more capable of solving certain problems than human minds? Cinema, with its deep relation to dreams, has a strong influence on what we perceive as intelligence.”
During the Long Night, leading researchers in the field of cinema and intelligence such as Shane Denson (Stanford University) and Kevin B. Lee (USI) will share their research. Filmmakers such as Gala Hernández López will give insights into her work with emerging technologies. And designers such as Fabian Frey and Laura Papke will create intimate learning encounters to experience different forms of intelligence and explore its futures.
Inspired by cinema’s deep relation with dreams – but going far beyond the world of moving images – this night creates a unique opportunity for exchange about intelligence from artistic as well as scientific perspectives. It offers the chance for unexpected and memorable encounters with guests of the Locarno Film Festival. The exploratory journey starts on August 9th at sunset, 20:44 – and ends nine hours later on August 10th at sunrise, 6:17. Every full hour a new encounter, talk, performance or experience will take the lead, and visitors can join throughout the night.
The Long Night of Dreaming is open to anyone who is interested (free admission) and will take place at BaseCamp Istituto Sant’Eugenio (Via al Sasso 1, Locarno). The detailed program will be soon available here.
