In the age of DALL-E and Stable Diffusion, what counts as art? And what can art tell us about AI? In this episode, we explore these questions and more with the help of Eryk Salvaggio, a US-based artist, designer and researcher whose work explores the fabric of artificial intelligence -- and often playfully defies its boundaries.

Credits

Guest – Eryk Salvaggio

Hosts – Zena Assaad and Liz Williams

Producers – Robbie Slape, Zena Assaad, Liz Williams

Audio Producer – Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio)

Thank you to the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science for allowing us to use their podcast studio for this episode.

For the full transcript or episode video, visit https://algorithmicfutures.org

It is the launch of season 3 of this podcast, and we thought it was high time for a positionality statement – er, episode. Why not align it with the start of a new season and our debut on YouTube? Listen in for an episode featuring our co-hosts, Liz Williams and Zena Assaad, in which we explore everything from relics, reactions, reciprocity, risk, and the complexities involved in creating and regulating AI systems in the real world.

Credits:

Co-hosts: Zena Assaad and Liz Williams

Producers: Robbie Slape, Zena Assaad, Liz Williams, and Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio)

Thanks to the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science for letting us use their podcast studio for recording.

We would also like to pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we recorded and edited this episode.

For show notes, the full (edited!) transcript, and maybe even a picture of the big blue ball, visit https://algorithmicfutures.org

In our final episode of season 2, we are grateful to be joined by Damith Herath, Associate Professor of Robotics and Art at the University of Canberra. Damith is a multi-talented roboticist with a long history of working in the art world, and an interest in understanding how to shape human-robot collaboration in real-world environments. During our conversation, Damith talks to us about how his innate drive to experiment with electronics and robotics led him from an entrepreneurial childhood in Sri Lanka to the forefront of robotics and automation research in Australia. 

Credits:

Guest: Damith Herath (University of Canberra)

Co-hosts: Zena Assaad and Liz Williams

Producers: Zena Assaad, Liz Williams, Robbie Slape, Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio)

Acknowledgements:

A special thanks to the ANU School of Cybernetics for lending us the use of their podcast studio for this recording.

Transcript: 

A full transcript of this episode is available on our website:

https://algorithmicfutures.org/s02e09